Breathe Your Life Into Me
by Konoha's White Fang
Summary: IchiRuki, for it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul. "Thank you, Rukia."
1. When it all Started

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**Chapter One**

**Thanks a lot to my great beta-readers!**

* * *

When he was still a kid, his life had been perfect. His mother was what made him always smile and forget about everything else.

Then, he lost that source of perfection; he was crushed and broken even before facing the terrors of life. He was shattered. He wore a scowl on his face all the time, then the rain started and never stopped falling in his soul.

Then, he became fifteen years old and entered high school. Though he had a lot of friends, he still thought that he was alone. He always got picked on because of the color of his hair. However, he paid them no mind and whenever they attacked him he would beat them to a pulp and make them wish they had never tried to fight him.

But in his mind, he always blamed himself for his mother's death and got irritated because of the fact that no one actually blamed him. Until he met a shinigami that changed his whole life forever and made his wish to protect those that he loved come true.

She made the rain stop.

He met Kuchiki Rukia, the woman whom he risked his life to protect, the woman who understood him and read his feelings like an open book.

But the peace in his soul didn't last long as she was taken away and was sentenced to death. Once again he felt helpless. He thought that he was the reason. Therefore, that time he didn't stay on the sidelines as he fought everyone whom got in his way in order to save her from her doom.

The look on her face when he held her, standing on Sokyoku and daring everyone even if they were the elite captains of Soul Society to come and take her from him, made him feel happy that he managed to defend the life of the person who gave him his power and stopped his rain.

After hearing her decision to stay in Soul Society, he felt something tug at his heart. Something inside kept nagging him and telling him to ignore what she said and carry her on his shoulder to take her back with him. But he wouldn't do that, not in a million years. He had his pride to keep.

When he returned to the real world, things happened which caused her to finally return and luckily in time to save him. Yet that actually made him feel helpless again. He was the one who was supposed to protect others; not the other way round.

But then again he brushed that off when they started bickering again and she started hitting him and yelling at him. However, their fights didn't get the chance to continue as he and his friends, including her, were forced to return to Seireitei, because of the circumstances, the place where he never thought he would be returning to.

And again, she stayed back while he left with his friends to the world where they truly belonged, the living world. Peace fell upon them once again but when did it ever last? As Aizen Sousuke decided to start using the Hougyoku for his evil schemes. And with that his problems started.

Aizen took interest in him -for his misfortune- and sent two Espada to fight with him -more like test him. Since he fought them, he became afraid to go into his shinigami form, afraid that he might get devoured by his hollow side and hurt his friends. But, she came and restored his confidence; his trust.

She was always the reason for him to be able to smile genuinely, but did she ever notice that? Probably not, since she didn't know how he had been before when she wasn't around. But that didn't matter now, did it? He was grateful for her, for his family and for his friends for being around him even after he had become a Vizard.

They were preparing for the Winter War. When it came, everything he once loved and knew was brutally taken away from him, was stolen from him leaving him to be only a shell covering a dead soul that didn't care about anything at all, not even its own life.

They were in Las Noches fighting off Aizen and his Espada. For the first time, Ichigo realized that his father was a shinigami and a captain too which proved to everyone that Ichigo was a pure blooded shinigami and not a substitute one after all.

Ichigo was the one who fought Aizen and so he was being pushed back. He saw that the former fifth captain had also obtained the powers of the Hollows which only caused more trouble. He was no longer at an advantage.

Ichigo was stabbed in the stomach, which made him fall on his knees. He was tired from the constant fighting and let his guard down just for a minute and that what was needed for the disaster to happen and for his life to turn upside down.

Aizen was approaching him with a raised Zanpakutou waiting to end the life of the orange-haired man. His father saw that and couldn't watch his own son die. Just when Aizen's Zanpakutou was about to strike, Kurosaki Isshin appeared just in time to take the blow for his son. He didn't have the time to stop it and had to take the blow.

Ichigo saw what happened with his own two eyes, saw as his father's body dripped blood from its newly acquired wound. His goofy father was lying in front of him in a pool of red liquid. He looked up only to meet Aizen's masked face and by the looks of it, he knew that he was smirking at him and Ichigo wanted to rip that smirk off his face right then.

He was brought back to the battle by a yell of pain then nothing but the sounds of Zanpakutou clashing. He looked around only to find Inoue's unmoving body lying on the ground then he looked again to see Chad's and Ishida's bodies on the marble floor of the castle, lying near her body.

He knew that they had tried to protect her with their lives but had failed. It was his job not theirs. _He_ was supposed to be the one lying on the floor in his own pool of blood. He needed to finish his battle with the traitor quickly so he could save them before they died. He still believed that they were still alive and didn't want to believe other than that.

He looked up only to face Aizen's back and when Aizen turned, Ichigo saw the Hougyoku in his hands fully awakened. At that moment he knew that if he didn't act fast, he would truly lose everything, yet again he wasn't fast enough to stop Aizen from using it.

He witnessed as a door split out of nowhere to reveal Karakura Town. And with that the battle was taken to a new dimension. Now both sides were fighting in the sky of the town. Aizen activated the Hougyoku and it started doing its work: destroying the town and eliminating everyone living in it to create the spirit key.

His thoughts started racing, now Karin and Yuzu were going to get into the conflict because of his weakness.

Aizen let go of the little shining object and faced Ichigo, Zanpakutou in hand ready to strike and finish the battle to declare his victory.

Ichigo gathered all of his strength and attacked head on which he realized was a bad idea later on when he found himself dangling, Zangetsu had fallen from his hand and Aizen was holding him by his neck, chocking him. Ichigo's hands clutched Aizen's arm, trying to make him remove his grip but failing and only succeeding in making it stronger.

His vision was starting to get blurry as air stopped flowing into his lungs and he felt himself slipping into darkness. Not until he saw the town under him vanishing slowly, being eaten by the Hougyoku until there was almost nothing there.

Everyone was busy fighting off their opponents to see the change that was happening to the young Kurosaki. Ichigo had enough; his sisters were going to die because of his lack of strength. He had to do something and quick.

He had to rely fully on his hollow side even if it made him an easy target for the hollow's ambitions. He had to do it. His reiatsu flared black waves of energy which started flowing out of him until Aizen couldn't keep him in his grip.

He -now having gained full access to the hollow's powers- was in front of Aizen in a flash, Zanpakutou pierced neatly in his neck. Aizen had a look of awe, how could that happen? Last time he checked, Zangetsu had fallen from his hands. How did it return? The captains got to see what happened as they finished their opponents just in time to witness the enormous act of power.

Aizen was dead but at what cost? Karakura Town was nearly gone; Ichigo looked at the dead body of Aizen and swiftly removed Zangetsu to let the shinigami's corpse fall down. He stared at the captains' faces which held blank expressions and a glint of fear in their eyes.

He averted his sight to look at the person whom he trusted the most and to his surprise, she was a bit hesitant, trying to avoid looking straight into his eyes. Seeing that made him feel sad, he didn't want to scare her, he didn't mean to.

Then it struck him, his hollow started his attempt to take over his soul and body, saying that he had finally found an opening. Ichigo held his head trying to fight him while everyone kept staring at him, forgetting everything including the Hougyoku.

Just when the odds seemed to be going against the young Kurosaki and he seemed to be losing his battle, a gentle hand touched his shoulder trying to reassure him and give him confidence then it went up to his face and held the tip of the mask, pulling it until it shattered and fell.

He looked at her, her eyes weren't filled with fear; in fact they were drowned by concern and anxiety. He smiled softly at her and just when he was about to thank her, they remembered the Hougyoku. Ichigo knew that when Urahara tried to destroy it, he couldn't.

So he had to take the chance and try using his Vizard powers however, that time he would be more careful not to let himself be consumed by the hollow's powers. And so his mask reappeared, using _Getsuga Tenshou_, he managed to destroy it.

When Urahara tried to destroy it, he didn't have the powers of a Vizard under his service which was by far greater than any kind of power. The orange-haired man looked at the almost destroyed town with sad eyes.

But that soon was replaced by a surprised look; the town was being rebuilt. He looked at where the Hougyoku was and saw everything that had been consumed by it being restored to where it was.

He heard a voice of someone talking to him from behind which he identified as the voice of the creator of the Hougyoku; Urahara Kisuke. Telling him with his chipper tone that since he couldn't destroy the Hougyoku, he added to it the ability to fix anything it destroyed including taking the souls of people.

It'd been a long time since Ichigo was able to smile a real smile. He noticed the captain of the forth squad telling everyone to return to Seireitei so she could heal them.

He went with them too, as he was told that his father and friends were taken to the forth division to be healed. After arriving there, the first thing Ichigo did before being healed was to see how his father and friends were doing, along with Rukia.

Unohana Retsu, the captain of the forth division was standing outside Ichigo's father's and friends' rooms. He asked her how they were, but then the striking answer came and Ichigo felt himself dying from the inside.

He had lost his father and officially became an orphan. His friends were gone too, not even one of them had survived. Not one. Ichigo rushed into the room and saw his father's body slowly turning into spirit particles. He ran to his father's side before he disappeared and held his hand as he fell to his knees, tears falling from his eyes without a sound.

Isshin told his son to take care of Yuzu and Karin and to protect them with his life, he also told him while smiling at him not to cry and to look at it from the bright side; no one would be there to try and break his neck in the early morning, Ichigo could only listen and feel his father's hand disappearing while blaming himself. The only thing that kept running through Ichigo's mind was—

_Why_?

Rukia could only watch, she knew that whatever she said or did wouldn't change the fact that Ichigo's life had been turned upside down and had been constantly changing into the worse. She put her soft hand on his shoulder trying to calm him and ease the pain, but he just kept looking at his father until nothing was left.

What would he tell Karin and Yuzu when he returned? They would be devastated and his life at that moment felt unbearable. He wished if he were the one who died and not his father. After calming down and pulling himself together, he managed to look at the raven-haired shinigami but didn't say a word.

* * *

A week later he returned to the living world after his father's and friends' funerals had been held in Soul Society. He didn't look back when he passed through the Senkai Gate. He once entered it with his friends but now he left it alone.

Rukia told him that she would come with him, but he told her that he would be fine and gave her a faint smile that was hard to notice but he knew that she could see it. When Ichigo went to his house, he found the glass of the windows shattered, his heart started pounding against his chest, afraid that something bad had happened and to his dismay, he found his two little sisters on the ground, soaked in their own blood.

He stopped in his tracks; he couldn't feel their spiritual energy. Without a further look, he started taking small steps backward until he bumped into the wall and leaned against it, slipping slowly until he was sitting on the ground, crying hard with hope that he would feel better. He didn't care at that point if anyone heard him or not.

At least now he wouldn't have to explain why their father died, he chuckled bitterly at the thought and if one were to see him, they would think that the young Kurosaki had lost his mind. Why was that happening to him? He had truly lost everyone, he was all alone. It was an unimaginable sorrow.

He was too tired to even stand on his feet to clean everything. He just sat in the corner of the living room in front of his dead little sisters, his knees pulled up in front of him, head buried in them. Just when he was about to slip into the sweet darkness of unconsciousness, he heard familiar voices. Although he was too tired to raise his head, he tried to at least look at their owners by raising his eyes a little but failing, all he saw was black clothes and something red.

Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji followed the orange-haired Kurosaki to his house even though he had assured them that he would be all right, however they couldn't help but feel worried about him. They noticed that he wasn't in a really good state but then again, who would be in a good state when he had lost his father and his best friends?

They saw him enter his house running and then stopping in his place, frozen as if he saw his worst nightmare. However, when Rukia saw the shattered glass, her heart started racing and she motioned for the red-headed shinigami to hurry whom complied without a second thought.

Upon entering the house, they saw their orange-haired friend at the corner of the room crying his eyes out and when they saw the two lying bodies they knew why. Rukia couldn't prevent herself from crying as tears trailed down her cheeks.

Renji stood in his place, head bent and shielding his face from view. They knew that their friend would never be the same. He had been in high school when he became a shinigami and entered that horrible world.

At first everything was fine but then again, everything started out to be fine then it turned out to be the most horrible thing in the world.

The raven-haired Kuchiki walked closer to the fallen shinigami when he started to calm down. She tried to comfort him but she noticed that he wasn't paying her his attention. She saw a glimpse of his eyes which made her stop talking.

They were cold, colder than her nii-sama's eyes. They held too much pain and sorrow but at the same time they were hollow. One needed to look closer to be able to see those feelings of loneliness and dismay. He was still a teenager and yet he saw things that even an old man hadn't seen. She knew that one day he wouldn't be able to take the pressure, but she never wanted to see that day come. Yet there she was, standing and witnessing that happening right before her eyes. She had once made a promise with herself that if she were to see that day, she would be by his side, holding his hand helping him. She would be there for him through thick and thin.

Renji walked over to the last Kurosaki and carried him. The red-headed shinigami saw the questioning look on Rukia's face and simply told her that they couldn't just leave him on the floor. Right before he climbed up the stairs he reminded her to call the fourth division so they would come and clean up the place.

The next day came and Ichigo jumped out of his bed as if expecting an attack coming from his father but then he remembered that his father was no longer alive. He relaxed and noticed that he wasn't in his shinigami form but in his own body. He heard a shuffle coming from his closet so he slowly walked up to the closet and slid the door open.

He stared at the person in it then his blood started boiling. He held the little stuffed animal to look at it in the eye. Of course the yellow animal started yelling and demanding the orange-haired man to put him down at once but all his thrashing received nothing but a hard glare.

Ichigo held him tighter and finally exploded in Kon's face which startled the little stuffed animal and made him stop talking. Ichigo shouted at him about the incident that took place yesterday, he asked the stuffed animal about the reason why he hadn't saved his little helpless sisters, why he hadn't done anything to protect them and instead hid in his damn closet.

The young Kurosaki used Kon's words and reminded him about what he had told him before about how he didn't like to kill or _watch_ people get _killed. _If that was true then why hadn't he done anything to save his sisters? Kon stared at him and looked down at the ground. Ichigo was right and he knew it.

After Ichigo's outburst, he started whispering in a pleading voice to make the stuffed animal tell him that, that was all a nightmare and he would soon wake up to find everyone alive. But Kon didn't answer so Ichigo slowly put him back inside the closet and muttered under his breath that he was going to take a shower.

Ichigo stripped off his clothes and entered the cold shower. He definitely needed one to take his mind off everything that happened. The youth bowed his head down to let the cold water caress the back of his neck, but after a while he hit his forehead against the wall, letting tears trail down his cheeks.

Ichigo finished his shower and went downstairs for breakfast. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants with a white top and a towel around his neck. As soon as he entered the living room and started making his way to the kitchen, memories started flowing back into his mind.

He remembered the smell of Yuzu's cooking, the sound of the programs which Karin used to watch on TV in the morning, and how his father kept talking with his two daughters until Karin did something that he would think of as being mean and jump to the poster that he had hung on the wall, weeping about how his daughters were being cold and mean to their father.

He could almost see them there doing what they usually did in the morning, his mind tricked him and gave him a false hope, he even imagined the voice of his sister Yuzu calling out for him to come and eat breakfast before it got cold, he hurried to where he thought they were standing but stopped mid in his steps as their images faded until nothing was there and he was left alone.

The young Kurosaki felt tears welling in his eyes, threatening to fall down but he wiped them quickly and continued his way to the kitchen. Luckily, there was no school today as it was the summer holiday and it was still July.

He heard shuffles in the kitchen, hope swelled in him as he practically ran to get there and to his surprise, he found the last person he had ever expected to see. Kuchiki Rukia was wearing a cooking apron, cooking what looked like eggs but the problem was they were burnt black; he heard her cursing then heard another voice making fun of her because she didn't know how to make a decent breakfast.

Upon turning his head to look at the source of the voice, the first thing he saw was red hair and he immediately recognized its owner. Abarai Renji was sitting at the table sipping his coffee after nearly putting all the sugar inside his cup and holding a newspaper, reading it.

After Ichigo had recovered from his stupor, he asked them what the hell they were doing in his kitchen, they simply looked at him and Rukia told him that she was cooking while Renji answered him sarcastically with, "What do you think we are doing?"

Ichigo shrugged them off and decided that he didn't care about the reason they were in his house. As soon as Ichigo sat as the table in front of Renji, while Rukia was putting the plates that carried what she had _cooked _on the table and sat next to Ichigo, the atmosphere around them changed.

Renji jumped into serious mood and started his talk with Ichigo by asking him first how he was feeling, when he received only a shrug, he mentally slapped himself. How the hell did he expect him to be? He continued on with what he was going to tell him which was the reason behind his sisters' death.

The red-haired vice captain explained to him that his sisters had died due to a hollow attack and before Ichigo could interrupt, he said that no way in hell Soul Society expected that attack, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to stop it because they were in short of shinigami, beside the fact that the attack happened in the one week Ichigo was away and Urahara wasn't in town so they couldn't prevent it from happening.

Ichigo's throat felt sore as he fought back the tears that were starting to tug at his eyes. Rukia watched how the orange-haired shinigami's fists clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. Renji looked at his friend and apologized to him though Ichigo brushed it off. Ichigo felt like hell as he stood up and left to go to his room. He slammed the door shut and threw himself on the bed, face down underneath the soft pillow.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to ease the killing pain that kept attacking him in his heart. He had had enough. He couldn't take it anymore; his life had become like a nightmare to him. A nightmare he feared that he would never wake up from.

_A living hell._

He had lost everything and there was nothing left for him to make him keep on going. His life felt worthless even if there were still a lot of hollows that were waiting to feel his blade in their masks. He had attained that power for the sake of his family and friends, to _protect_ them from those disgusting freaks of nature. Then one of those freaks took the life of his precious people. He couldn't imagine how his sisters had felt when they were attacked. They had had to have felt helpless, scared, and confused about the reason why their brother wasn't there to save them at a time like that, when they _needed_ him.

Rukia knocked gently on Ichigo's door. After Renji had left with the excuse that his job was finished there, she made up her mind to come and make sure that her foolish friend wouldn't do anything rash and extremely stupid. No one answered her knocking and she feared that he had done something to himself so she let herself in.

Once she entered the room, she found him lying on his bed, face buried in the pillow. She walked up to him slowly and without making any noise, called his name but he still didn't answer. She stood in front of his bed waiting for him to at least recognize her presence or to give her permission to stay or if he wanted to stay alone. Either way she would understand but still she didn't receive anything.

So she sat at the edge of his bed next to his lying form, she touched his shoulder lightly and mumbled his name softly. She knew what he was going through, knew the feeling of the loss of someone dear and special. She felt his pain and it hurt her badly to see the once stubborn over-confident man like that. It reminded her of the state he was in when his hollow threatened to take over his soul when he fought with the Espada for the first time. But at that time, she was able to return him back to his old self with a few simple words. Though she knew that, that time it wouldn't be the same.

Nothing would be the same.

* * *

Ichigo heard Rukia's voice calling him then he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder for a minute but he still didn't move or do anything which showed that he was aware of her presence. He didn't want to show her how weak he was, that had been one of the reasons he came to his room, though until now he had been acting like a helpless child who needed to be comforted and helped.

As soon as she removed her hand, he felt the warmth of her touch dissipate. Although her hand didn't linger on his shoulder, he loved the feeling of someone's comforting hand. It reminded him of his late mother and how she used to make him feel happy with simply smiling and holding him close.

He missed that feeling a lot and knew that he wouldn't be able to feel it again. There was no one in his life that he cared about anymore, not that he had someone before in _that_ way at least. Moments of silence passed without much care until finally he started drifting off to sleep again.

Rukia heard his even breaths and assumed that he had fallen asleep. She sighed then before she left the room, she turned her head one last time and told the sleeping man in a pleading voice not to do anything rash and assured him that he wasn't alone. For Rukia's ignorance, a little stuffed animal heard every whispered word she had spoken. From that moment, Kon realized that some interesting events would find its way to the young Kurosaki's life once again.

That day it started raining heavily as if the sky itself was crying for the events that occurred in the orange-haired shinigami's life. Thunder roared and lighting sliced through the sky. Ichigo awoke later, only to find that he had slept through the day and that it was night time.

He stared outside his window at the pouring rain, a sad look plastered on his face. Rain resembled nothing but the sadness in his life. It always carried grief and nothing happy came from it. It reminded him a lot of the day his mother had been killed, though Ichigo tried as much as he could to suppress the horrible memories from wandering in his mind.

He didn't need any more sadness than what he was already in. Anything more and he might just break.

Ichigo was snapped from his thoughts as he heard the sound of an angry hollow howling in the dark night, slicing through the beautiful silence.

He quickly grabbed his badge and changed into the form of a shinigami. He was going to kick that hollow's ass and make him wish that he had never appeared in that town. Ichigo was determined to have his revenge on every single hollow.

He jumped out of his window and landed silently on the next building's roof, closing his eyes for a minute, and smelling the fresh air; enjoying the quiet night until the hollow's scream brought him back to the cruel reality of life.

His usual scowl on his face deepened and he went off to find the damn hollow and slay him. Upon finding the hollow, he quickly sliced through his mask and finished him off. He started making his way back to his house but stopped in his track as he sensed another reiatsu nearing him. Apparently, more hollows were being drawn to him by his own reiatsu. He smirked and held Zangetsu tighter.

The hollows appeared one by one until the sky was almost full; with one last scream the hollows declared the beginning of the attack. They attacked Ichigo relentlessly, all of them wanting to eat his soul however Ichigo wasn't planning on letting them kill him without a fight.

He charged at them with everything he had, wanting to let out some of his anger and pain and that was the perfect opportunity to do that, so he didn't want to lose it. One down and . . . one hundred to go maybe? He didn't care how many they were as long as he was going to slay them.

While the orange-haired shinigami was busy killing hollows, he didn't notice the other hollow like-bug sneaking behind him. All of a sudden, Ichigo felt something sharp rip at his shoulder and blood started gushing out of the wound.

He looked behind him to find the hollow-like bug laughing at him and telling him that he tasted good. The young Kurosaki smirked at him and dared him to try that again. With that, the hollow-like bug attacked Ichigo head on and only received an instant death.

The young Vizard had been killing one hollow after another. And now he was in his Bankai form. His reiatsu had been decreasing as well as his strength. He panted heavily and swung his Zanpakutou to finish another hollow.

There were many scratches covering his body, one of them found its way to his cheek and trickled down blood. Although Ichigo was tired, he wasn't about to rest; no, not yet. He was going to kill them all, every one of them. Before he could attack again, something that looked like a tentacle managed to pierce into his back and all the way through to come out from his abdomen.

Ichigo winced and coughed out blood.

_How was this freak of nature able to do this to me?_

He had fought Aizen and his Espada and won, but that low level hollow managed to do that to him. That was a surprise; maybe he had fought for too long and now he was tired?

However, he didn't care, as he used Zangetsu to cut the tentacle. Once he heard the scream of the hollow, he attacked him and destroyed its mask. He started breathing heavily because the blood was flowing out of his body leaving him weak and light-headed.

His vision started to blur and he couldn't focus anymore. The last thing he remembered seeing was: a bunch of hollows coming straight at him and then nothing. Darkness enveloped him and he slipped into unconsciousness.

To Be continued...

**

* * *

A/N: I don't own Bleach or its characters they are all property of Tite Kubo.**

**Let me know what you think (R&R).**

**~KWF~**


	2. Alone

**Breathe Your Life into Me**

**-**

**Chapter two**

* * *

He cracked his eyes slowly then closed them and let out a low moan. Rain had somehow managed to wake him up. It felt refreshing and it washed over his face with its cold drops. He could feel that his head was lying on top of something soft, something warm that made him relax. His mouth was cracked open trying to breathe, lips were dry and slightly cracked, his throat felt sore and his head was spinning. Everything felt bad; his body was aching from all the wounds he had sustained.

He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he thought he heard someone, he could hear someone telling him or more like scolding him but the problem was he couldn't figure out what that certain someone was saying. He tried again to open his eyes slowly but all he saw was something glowing green.

The light was too powerful for his eyes in his state which led him to immediately shutting them. Again someone was talking to him but that time, he knew that he had heard his name being called by a soft voice.

"Ichigo." That voice made him try and open his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the green light again so he turned his head quickly which caused an immediate headache to strike his head and make him feel dizzy. However, he, in a voice that matched a whisper, mouthed one word which was "Light". With that, the light vanished and that enabled him to open his eyes fully and focus on the person healing him.

He saw...hair, raven hair. He tried to focus harder but that only made his head ache but he still did it. That time, he saw orbs, violet orbs staring right at him, but what gave him the feeling of uneasiness was that the eyes were drowned by tears, though not even a single tear had slipped. Although, she was soaked with the rain, he was able to see her tears in her eyes.

He quickly recognized the person that was holding him. "Rukia," he tried to call her name but it only came out as a muffled whisper. In an attempt of moving his hand a little, his body screamed at him in pain and agony. So he dismissed the thought of moving his body to spare himself the pain.

His eye-lids were getting heavier with every minute passing, until he couldn't keep them open any longer. They slipped shut and drifted him into darkness. He could make out shouts and yells until they disappeared completely and left him in a world of silence.

* * *

The raven-haired shinigami felt an utter relief wash over her when her orange-haired friend tried to open his eyes. However, she didn't show it and instead, started scolding him about how reckless he was, she knew that he probably wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying properly, but she kept on scolding him anyway. It made her feel that there was nothing serious and that everything would be back to normal, though she knew that nothing would be normal ever again.

The rain soaked her to the bone and that was a fact, her hair was drenched and drops of water were dripping from the locks of her hair on the face of the man whom was resting his head on her lap. She thought that he seemed so relaxed to the point that she didn't believe that his life was like a living hell.

The green light that was glowing from her hands to heal him seemed to bother him, as he turned his head immediately after cracking his eyes open. Therefore, she stopped healing him and the light was gone, she observed him as he turned his eyes to stare into her own. His eyes were filled with so much pain and sorrow and it made her feel sad but she didn't flinch or tear her eyes away from him.

She saw him as he slowly recognized her and whispered her name, she smiled faintly but her smile was wiped off her face as she slowly saw his eyes closing. She feared the worst; she knew that he was in an extremely bad state and that he had been standing on the death's doorstep when she came to save him. She feared that his resolve had weakened from all that happened to him and feared that he had given up on living.

She started yelling and shouting his name to wake him up, telling him not to lose hope, to think about the people who were still alive and he cared about, the people who cared about him. He wasn't alone, most of Soul Society's shinigami were his friends, he couldn't have forgotten about them.

That scene reminded her a lot, of her late Fuku-Taichou, Kaien-dono. It was night that day and it was raining just like now. However, back then, they were in the middle of the forest, but there, they were sitting on the pavement of the street. _How ironic, _she thought. She got to witness the deaths of two dear people in her life and she couldn't do anything.

Wait a minute; Ichigo wasn't dead so why was she thinking those thoughts?!

She quickly got on her feet and grabbed Ichigo by the arm and put it around her slim neck. She knew that he was heavier than her and she probably wouldn't be able to carry him but she had to try, she couldn't give up on him. He would survive, he_ was_ going to survive.

The moment she supported his weight, she nearly fell down. The raven-haired shinigami mumbled curses under her breath on how he looked so thin but was so heavy. She placed one of her arms around his waist to help in supporting his weight while the other one used it to hold his hand that was dangling around her neck.

She quickly took off and started leaping on the roofs instead of running, figuring that it would be much easier. Rain was hitting her face with every jump she took, it was kind of refreshing, not until some of the rain drops got into her eyes and made her lose her balance to eventually lose her footing and slip off the roof.

She had to do something but she knew that she couldn't, at least not while she was holding Ichigo, his heavy weight was too much for her, she barely managed to hold him and jump from one roof to another. She placed herself under him so she would be the one to take the hit not him and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the upcoming pain.

The pain never came, neither from the fall nor from the pain that she would feel when his weight would crash on her. She cautiously opened her eyes, only to find herself facing the ever so chipper shop keeper, Urahara Kisuke, and noticed that he was holding in one hand the young Kurosaki while the Goddess of the Flash, Shihouin Yoruichi had her in her arms.

The raven-haired princess heard the former captain telling or more like scolding her in his chipper tone to be more careful and to try not to carry people with heavier weights than her own. She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest then pushed herself out of Yoruichi's grip and told Urahara to quickly take Ichigo to his shop to heal him.

* * *

And that was where the present actually began, the story of the man who thought that he had lost everything he once cared about and loved, though, he didn't realize that there was still someone who's capable of changing his life-like-hell into something more bearable. That person would soon be the center of his life and maybe the cause of his death if it was necessary, because, it was a fact that he would do _anything_ to protect that certain person.

But who knew other than those two?

-

Ichigo felt a killing pain in his head; it felt like a hammer was pounding his skull. Ever so slowly, he tried to reach his head with his hand, in an attempt of easing the sharp pain. Though, he didn't realize that by moving another part of his body, he would be allowing more pain to come, until it was too late.

He quickly retreated his hand and gritted his teeth while tightly shutting his eyes, waiting for the throbbing pain to dissipate. Until he felt nothing, he let out a sigh of expiration and opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling above him, trying to remember where he had seen it before; _Urahara's shop._

And now that he had figured out where he was, he tried to remember what had happened to him last night to make him end up there. He recalled fighting with a hollow, actually a lot of hollows. The rain was falling that night but still why was there? He concentrated more until he remembered getting stabbed by something, a_ tentacle_ maybe? Who cared?

And then nothing, he closed his eyes. His mind was blank.

_Why didn't he just die?_

That was the only thought that kept jumping around in his mind. It would've been a lot more better, if he had just died and got rid of that life. It's not like, someone would actually miss him.

He heard a door open then close so he opened his eyes, he assumed that someone entered the room. He turned his head to look at the new incomer but unfortunately for him, he only got to see a foot hitting him in his side.

He groaned in pain as he held his side trying to ease the new pain and glared at the person who had hit him, although he was clearly injured, seriously injured as a matter of a fact, he still got hit by his friend.

"What the hell was that for? Can't you see that I'm injured?!" He yelled at the Kuchiki beauty while throwing her a killer glare. She was crossing her arms over her chest while staring at him, obviously not affected by his glare.

"Fool," she said more to herself than to him and turned her face to make her way out of the room. Ichigo stared at her bewildered. As soon as he recovered from what had just happened, he quickly jumped to his feet and grabbed her wrist. Though, he regretted that course of action immediately as pain took hold of his body.

He winced in pain and fell to his knees but kept his hold on her wrist. "What's wrong with you? Hitting me like that then trying to leave," he said, deepening his frown while trying to keep his voice loud enough to make it sound like he was shouting at her and that he actually was pissed off at her. However, the throbbing pain wouldn't leave him. Beads of sweat started trailing down his forehead and cheeks.

She looked at him immediately when he caught her wrist with cold eyes but they quickly softened and were filled with concern when his knees buckled and gave away. She looked at his piercing hazel eyes and gave him the answer he sought.

"You deserved that. What the hell were you thinking about when you went all by yourself to kill all those hollows?! AREN'T WE A TEAM?!" She yelled at him. She knew that she needed to yell at him and give him a piece of her mind.

He looked at her and started thinking of a retort, he turned his face away from her until he finally found something. "Well, you don't have the right to hit me like that!" He replied back and slapped himself mentally, was that the best he could come up with?

She raised an eyebrow at him as if daring him to say that again which he took it as his cue to shut up or she would beat him up. He didn't need any more injuries and that's a fact.

"Idiot," he said while trying to stand on his feet.

The moment he stood up, he felt a wave of dizziness hit him, making him stumble forward. He could see the floor nearing as he fell down but then it stopped. He looked up to see his shinigami friend holding him by his chest.

Her delicate hands that were placed on his chest pushed him up and helped him into a sitting position. Weird, he thought, her hands didn't hurt when they touched the wound that was on his chest. Womanly touch, he guessed. Definitely womanly touch, that's the only explanation he could come up with.

She helped him to sit back on the mattress and seated herself to face him. "What were you thinking about?" She asked him with a hint of anger lacing her voice.

Ichigo only turned his face to look at anything but her. He heard her calling him again with her gentle voice but he still didn't look at her and kept quiet until she said it, the one thing that he knew she was going to say one way or another.

"Were you thinking about dying?" She whispered, her voice held a note of hurt and fear.

Finally, he turned to look at her. "There's no need for me to stay alive," there, he said it, he finally admitted it. She knew that he was going to tell her that.

The air around them was filled with tension that even Urahara and Yoruichi whom were sitting outside the room felt it. However, they didn't try to interfere. Though, the tension didn't last long as Ichigo asked her something that had been bugging him since he woke up.

"How long have I been out?" He asked her, trying to change the subject and it worked. Her stern façade was secured back to her face and her cold eyes looked at him. "Fool, you have been out for a week. You got m-...us worried," she stuttered, crossing her arms over her chest while trying to hide the blush that was threatening to creep over her face.

"Seriously, A whole week...sorry I got you worried though," he said completely oblivious to her blush. She secretly thanked God that he was a fool.

She allowed a small smile to play at the corners of her mouth as she reached out and hit him over his shoulder which earned her a "Yelp," and some curses from the orange-haired shinigami. But she paid him no mind and stood up to make her way out of the room.

"Rest well...and try to find a cure for your foolishness." She shot him a smirk and turned to leave the room.

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest while scowling at Rukia's retreating figure. "Stupid midget," he grumbled then felt something trailing down his chest. His face started sweating hard as he jumped in pain and yelled, "It opened!" over and over. He was too busy to notice that his arms had hit his injured chest and opened his wound.

"Kurosaki-san, you should be more careful," Urahara scolded him while entering the room that was full of yells of pain. And quickly started working on re-healing the opened wound, with some warnings not to move around too much, Kisuke left the young Kurosaki to rest.

Ichigo was left to his thoughts, before closing his eyes, his heart clinched as he thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow, it was something he didn't look forward to, he even wished for it not to come. Because from that moment on, he started hating that day. With that last thought in his mind, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

-

Rukia was sitting across from Yoruichi. The moment Urahara stepped out of Ichigo's room, she bolted to her feet. "How's he?" She asked worriedly. Although, she was with him a moment ago, she still felt worried about him and needed an answer from the one who treated her friend.

Kisuke kept quiet and walked over to where the Goddess of Flash was sitting and seated himself next to her so he was now sitting across from the anxious shinigami. He raised his hat. "You don't have to worry about him. Kurosaki-san isn't a person who gives up easily."

Rukia reseated herself and looked at her hands that were placed on her lap. "It's not that. I fear that he had lost his will to live," with that said, she clinched her fists hard until her knuckles turned white. Urahara exchanged looks with his childhood friend and sighed heavily. That was going to be a one hell of a time.

* * *

The sun rose, casting its yellow rays on a certain raven-haired shinigami signaling the start of a new day. The sky was clear and the weather was lovely, cool breezes blew by her, which made her hair move slightly. Rukia raised her hand to cover her eyes from the shining sun. She was walking towards the Kurosaki house as she was asked to bring Ichigo's body.

How such a beautiful day could start when someone was in deep hell, she wondered. It didn't seem convenient in her point of view. She sighed then continued making her way to the orange-haired shinigami's house.

Finally, she arrived there, she took out the key which was given to her by Urahara and jammed it into the key hole. She pushed the door open and entered the almost deserted house. She felt slightly uneasy to be there alone without hearing the voices of Ichigo fighting with his father or Yuzu trying to calm them down while Karin kept telling her to leave them alone.

She sighed and decided to get his body and quickly leave the house. Apparently, her plan didn't go well as she noticed another person's reiatsu in the house. Walking carefully to the reiatsu's source while readying herself to swallow the pill that was in her hand to change into a shinigami. She climbed the stairs and opened Ichigo's bedroom's door and was ready to attack the person inside it.

However, she stopped as she noticed the spiky red hair; she blinked several times before opening her mouth. "Renji? What are you doing here?" She asked him curiously while placing the modified soul's pill back into her pocket.

The red-haired shinigami had his back to Rukia. When he heard his name being called, he quickly turned to face the person who called him. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously when he noted that the person was Rukia.

"Oi, Rukia...where were you? I've been waiting for you and that strawberry all day," he said.

"What do you want? I thought that you had returned back to Soul Society," she replied as a matter of a fact while crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for him to answer.

"I did...and they sent me back to bring you with me," he answered her while seating himself on Ichigo's bed. He looked at her to see her face painted with an expression of confusion and worry so he continued. "Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou asked all the shinigami in the real world to return back to Soul Society. Though it seemed like there was something bothering him and all the captains," he said while rubbing his chin.

Rukia stared at him, what could possibly be so important to ask all the shinigami to return to Soul Society? Last time that happened; was when they discovered that Inoue had gone to Hueco Mundo without telling anyone.

It made her feel anxious. Wanting to return there as fast as possible, then she remembered, _Ichigo_, he was already devastated, last time she left him alone in his room, he went out without telling her, to kill a hollow which ended up into killing hundreds of hollows, and getting himself nearly killed if it wasn't for the fact that she was just in time to see him falling and thankfully was able to destroy every hollow that dared to attack him.

"What's going on Renji?" She finally asked after snapping herself back to reality. She didn't need to be spacing out at a time like that.

"I don't know," he answered her honestly while standing up and walking towards the door. "They will tell us everything when all the shinigami are back." Before he went out of the door, he finally asked the one thing that had been bothering him since he stepped foot in the living world. "How's Ichigo doing? Why isn't he with you?" Curiosity evident in his voice.

The raven-haired shinigami looked at the floor while clutching her left arm. Renji took the hint that he was doing bad; real bad, or else Rukia wouldn't be like that. He sighed.

"Look, we'll go to Urahara now and then you can tell me everything," he suggested while turning back to leave.

Rukia raised her head in surprise, weren't they supposed to be leaving to Soul Society now? However, she held her silence and followed after her friend without forgetting the orange-haired shinigami's body. Though, she wasn't the one who carried his heavy body, as a matter of a fact she made the pineapple head carry it instead by using her..._ways_.

Renji grumbled, a large bruise could be seen on his head, he glared at the woman walking beside him but kept his silence, he didn't need any more bruises to scar him.

Upon reaching Urahara's shop, the two shinigami heard a ruckus going inside the small shop. They hurried inside only to find Ichigo trying to get out of bed while Yoruichi holding him in place with Urahara besides her telling the orange-haired man to stop moving or he would re-open his wounds and that would cause him to bleed all over again.

Renji didn't waste his time as he threw the young Kurosaki's body on the floor which caused a loud noise and made everyone in the room silent until a certain person decided to break the silence.

"What the hell?! Watch it; you're going to bruise my body!" Ichigo yelled at the red-haired shinigami whom paid him no mind and continued his way to seat himself at the round table. Of course, that's all what a little fight needed to start between the two...friends.

"As if I care."

Ichigo grunted and was about to answer him back when he was interrupted by a certain person's loud voice. "Oi, fool, what the hell do you think you are doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Stop acting like an idiot!"

He quickly recognized her voice as he looked at the source of the voice. "R-Rukia?"

"Why are you surprised fool?" She asked while stepping into the room and within a minute she had her foot on top of his chest, pushing him down to keep him from moving around too much. Her act only earned her a big scowl but she didn't care.

"What the...? Get your foot off me, you annoying midget," he growled, trying to get her foot off him. When Rukia heard him say the word 'midget', she placed both of her feet on his chest and pushed harder making him wince and complain that his wounds opened but she didn't care. She kept her feet on him and sat on top of him after he had calmed down and stopped yelling and thrashing around.

"I thought that you went back to Soul Society," he stated calmly while staring up at the ceiling. "Urahara told me that all the shinigami are to return back to Soul Society is that true?" He averted his gaze to lock stares with her, waiting patiently for her to answer.

"Ah," was her answer. She stood up and walked to where everyone was sitting, allowing Yoruichi to re-close the fool's wounds _again. _The woman with eyes like cats started to get sick of re-healing the idiot's wounds. It's like the third time, why didn't she leave him like that until he healed all by himself? She shoved those thoughts out of her mind and proceeded with healing him _again_.

After finishing her work, she allowed Ichigo to come and join them in the other room. Ichigo couldn't be any happier as he finally was out of the boring futon bed. He seated himself next to Rukia.

"What's going on?" He asked looking at Renji.

"All the shinigami were told to return to Soul Society as fast as possible," he answered while folding his arms over his chest. "It seems like there is something wrong, the captains seemed to be worried about something but I couldn't tell, after all Kuchiki-Taichou wouldn't tell me anything," he finished looking at Urahara. "Do you have any idea?" He asked eying the man in question suspiciously.

Kisuke only shrugged and claimed that he had no idea about what's going on but knowing that man, neither Renji nor Rukia nor Ichigo believed him as they kept their suspicious gaze on him. Kisuke shifted uncomfortably and waved his fan in front of his face while laughing nervously. Finally, when everyone stopped looking at him, the question that had been waiting to be asked came out.

"So when are you leaving?" Ichigo asked Renji who was sitting across of him.

"We are supposed to be leaving now," he replied, studying the orange-haired Vizard's expressions. He noted the fact that his eyes dropped slightly at hearing that and he knew the reason. Ichigo needed everyone's help at that moment and now that Rukia was leaving him alone, there's no guessing to what could happen to him.

Ichigo's movement startled everyone in the room as he quickly stood up and made his way back to his room when he was stopped.

"Where are you going?" Rukia asked him, feeling concern for her friend.

"I'm feeling a little tired, I think I'm going to rest a little," with that he closed the door that separated the two rooms.

Rukia felt guilt swell in her chest, she was supposed to be there for him, help him get through that but she also knew that she couldn't just ignore her orders no matter what, unless she wanted to face another serious crime. She sighed, now that she knew that she couldn't keep the promise that she had made to help her friend no matter what, was broken, she felt even more terrible.

The look on his face alone made her uneasy and she knew that not only she felt that way, but in fact everyone who was in that room felt the same way. He needed them and yet they abandoned him. Although, he was always there to help them and now that he was the one needing the help, no one helped him.

* * *

Ichigo hit his fist hard on the futon of the bed so as not to make much noise. How could he actually be that stupid? Why did he show that kind of expression on his face? She had to go, so what! Not that it actually mattered to him, it wasn't the first time. Maybe everything that had happened to him was starting to take a toll on him, making him vulnerable, weak, _weak..._no he shouldn't be weak, he had to be strong or he would lose control over his hollow.

**"That's right, king. You have to be strong or I'll get ya' and take over your body...and when I do that maybe I'll have some fun with Rukia-chan before I kill her." **

Ichigo's eyes widened as he started to panic, the voice of the hollow's laughter echoed through his mind. He could almost imagine him, smirking at him and staring at him with those yellow eyes of his. He didn't need that, not now. He gripped his head tightly, closing his ears and doing his best in trying to suppress the hollow's disgusting laughter but failing.

The sound of the laugh finally dissipated and silence filled his mind. He fell on the bed and closed his eyes, he felt so pathetic, so unreliable…so _weak _and he hated it. After feeling irritated with himself, the only thing that he could think of was: get to sleep so that he wouldn't do anything stupid, therefore he drifted into a deep slumber with hopes that he would have a dreamless sleep.

-

"Rukia! Come on, we have to go now," Renji called out for the raven-haired Kuchiki. He was waiting for her to come out of the shop so that they could enter the gate he had just opened. All he received was a shout for him to wait a minute, so he had to comply or she would kick him all the way back to Soul Society.

Rukia felt obliged to check on the sleeping Kurosaki before leaving. It was enough for her that she wouldn't be able to be with him in that, but for her to leave without at least a farewell would be crossing the line. Even when her nii-sama and Renji came to arrest her, she still left him a message.

She slowly opened his door and peeked into the room to find him sleeping on his back with a frown on his face. She noticed beads of sweat trailing down his cheeks so she assumed that he was having a really bad nightmare. Without even making a noise, she walked to where he was sleeping and sat next to him.

"I'm sorry Ichigo. But I won't be there to help you get through this. I know that it's really hard, believe me when I tell you that I understand how you feel but...please don't do anything rash," she whispered and before she got up, she ran her hand gently through his orange hair then got up.

With one last peek, she went out to where Renji was waiting for her, tapping his foot impatiently. Upon opening the gate, two hell-butterflies came out and flew around the two shinigami before entering the gate again. Rukia entered first then followed by Renji and with that the traditional Japanese wooden door closed.

-

Ichigo's wish didn't come true, and the result was; him living one of the worst nightmares. At first he thought nothing of it when it started as he thought that it was the same dream of him and his mother walking by the river bank.

Though, it was nothing like that, it was even a lot more worse than any dream he had ever had. He found himself in Las Noches, facing Aizen again; he looked around him to only find himself re-living what happened in the war. He immediately turned to look back at Aizen who had already finished his father then quickly averted his sight to catch the falling forms of his friends.

The next thing he knew, he heard someone talking to him, someone familiar. Looking down at his father's body, he saw it moving and slowly raising on its feet.

"You failed me, failed us." The bloodied man slowly started approaching the bewildered son.

Ichigo heard another familiar voices, he looked around to find his fallen comrades arising, all covered in blood. "You promised to protect me Kurosaki-kun." He recognized that voice as Inoue's.

"Weren't you supposed to be the one who protected my back, Ichigo?" He heard Chad talking to him.

"Kurosaki, you have disappointed me, you really are a good for nothing idiot," Ishida said as the three friends started walking towards the now panicked man. Ichigo stared at his fists which were clutched then closed his eyes tightly. _"Why did I obtain such power? Wasn't it because I wanted to protect the people I cared about, and now I failed them!" _He thought until he was brought back to reality.

"Ichi-nii." He could recognize that voice anywhere, it was Karin's voice. "Where were you, when we needed you?" She asked him, she too was walking towards him, next to her Yuzu who had tears in her eyes as she spoke. "It hurts, Ichi-nii," she cried.

"And now you are going to pay for what had happened with your life." All of the people Ichigo had cared about and tried to protect, but failed miserably, were now there, wanting to kill him. They wanted revenge. The orange-haired man who was on his knees could only hear their footsteps as they neared him.

However, something sobered him; he heard a soft voice talking to him. It was merely a whisper but he was able to hear it, it held too much concern and worry, it made his heart tug at the fact that someone had actually still cared about him.

He heard it all, but he didn't understand why the owner of the voice had apologized to him. After all, he was the one who was supposed to be apologizing not him or _her. _He couldn't really make it out as he was barely able to hear it.

Next he felt something gentle and small yet warm, ruffling his hair attentively which was a first since a very long time. He felt comfortable under the person's touch and little by little, he forgot the presence of the people around him. The presence of the people who wanted him _dead_.

Suddenly, that nice sensation disappeared and was replaced by coldness, and he took it as his cue to try and wake himself up. He jolted into a sitting position, breathing heavily and panting for air, trying to suck in as much as he could. He looked around him to find no one was with him in the room. Could his mind made that nice feeling to wake him up? He left it at that as he laid back down and concentrated only on healing quickly.

-

To be continued...

...

**

* * *

**

A/N: I don't own Bleach.

**I hope that you had enjoyed reading this chapter and please be nice and leave a review of what you think about this chapter, I would really appreciate it and thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, you are all big help in motivating me. (R&R)**

**~KWF~**


	3. A Scarecrow Arise

**Breathe Your life Into Me**

**-**

**Chapter three**

**Thanks a lot to my beta-readers.**

* * *

Slowly walking through the busy streets of Karakura Town, he remembered his last conversation with Urahara—or more like fight. The blond man tried to keep him in his shop saying that he was still injured and that it wasn't good for him to walk around yet.

_"Kurosaki-san, please stay in your bed until you're fully healed." the shop keeper tried to convince the irritated young man in front of him. Urahara tried to reason with him but really he was too stubborn and wouldn't even listen to him so he had Yoruichi tie him to his bed, although he was pretty sure that the young Kurosaki would break free._

_"And about your sisters' funeral, I'm sorry but we couldn't hold it back any longer and had to hold it," Kisuke said apologetically with sincere eyes. He knew that they shouldn't have done that but the orange-haired man was out for a whole week and the funeral was late enough as it was._

_"What!?" Ichigo looked at him with wide eyes then quickly his expression of surprise turned into one of anger. "How could you do that? I'm their brother for god's sake and I didn't get the chance to pay my last respects to them!" _

_"I'm sorry but it had to be done." Urahara looked at him in the eye. "You still can go and pay your respects to them." _

_"Let me go, now!" The orange-haired man demanded as he struggled to break free from his bed. How could he do that? He was their brother and the last member of their family, yet he didn't even show up for their funeral! It seemed that he was never there for them and it hurt him deeply. _

_"You are in no shape to be leaving the bed," the owner warned him, waving his fan in front of his face in attempt of lightening the mood a little._

_"For the last time Urahara, I'm fine!" Ichigo huffed angrily while trying to cut the rope holding him down._

_"Really?" Mused the cat-like woman as she neared the struggling young man with a glimpse of sarcasm in her eyes. She was watching the whole so-called "conversation" between them and finally had enough so she decided to step in and help out._

_Ichigo looked at her, already worried from the look in her eyes which told him that she would prove him otherwise, and so it happened. She placed her foot on top of his chest and pressed hard making him scream in pain._

_"Well . . . you really look fine for that scream to come out," she mocked him and walked away while crossing her arms over her chest, returning back to her spot where she stood near the wall and leaned against it._

_"That was cheating! You saw what she did, sandal-hat?" Ichigo yelled loudly earning him a smirk from the Goddess of flash._

_"You have to understand Kurosaki-san that you are in no physical or mental shape to move around so much," Urahara stated and tipped his hat a little to hide his eyes. When he was about to stand up from his kneeling position, he was surprised to hear the way the young Kurosaki spoke next. _

_"Please, Urahara. I can't stay here," he whispered, bending his head down, his orange locks covering his eyes which were full of hurt and feelings of loneliness._

_Urahara sighed, giving up on changing the young man's stubborn mind. He stood up and motioned for Yoruichi to untie him and let him go. "Fine, you can go but try not to be rash." With that he slowly walked out of the room. He was met with confusion as the cat woman eyed him carefully, trying to find the reason behind the sudden decision to let Ichigo go but he only smiled at her and resumed his walking._

_She sighed and made her way to the shocked young man and started untying him. "You better be careful, we won't be there to help you every time, you know," she told him sternly while helping him out of the bed and left him to enter his body._

_On his way out of the shop, he saw Yoruichi standing next to Urahara, her arms crossed over her chest while the blond shopkeeper grinned at him and waved his fan in front of his face. Finally out of the shop, Ichigo slowly walked away with both hands stuffed in his pockets, but before he was out of hearing range he heard Yoruichi telling him to stay out of trouble and in response he gave her a smirk that was barely noticeable._

And now there he was walking in the busy streets, heading towards the cemetery to visit his little twin sisters' graves. It felt odd for him to be doing that. They were still young and yet they died but death didn't separate between young and old, it was all the same.

He finally reached his destination and climbed the stairs towards his mother's grave, because he was told by Urahara that they were buried next to their mother. Standing in front of the now three graves that belonged to his family, he collapsed on his knees, head bent down in shame and regret.

"I'm sorry I let you down, Karin . . . Yuzu," he whispered as his eyes started watering with tears. "And I'm sorry mom, that I broke my promise to you. I was supposed to protect them but I failed them," he choked on every word he said as a lone tear slipped down his cheek. It was really weird for him to cry easily but now he felt vulnerable and didn't care if anyone saw him. He only acted strong for the sake of his family but now there was no one.

He was alone.

The sun slowly started fading, leaving the sky painted with different colors. A line of orange crossed a line of violet making it seem as if the two lines were holding hands. The two colors were melted together to the point it was hard to see the other alone.

He sighed heavily and stood up from his kneeling position, taking another look at the three graves for the last time, then walked in a steady pace away from them, with one thought in his mind.

_If I could join you_….

With that he left the cemetery and headed towards his house.

On his way out of the cemetery, he caught sight of his childhood friend. She ran up to him and held him by the collar of his shirt. Her eyes were puffy red and trails of tears were obvious on her face. "Where is Orihime?" She hissed, her head bent down. A feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he remembered the time when she held him like that; it was when Inoue was taken by Ulquiorra.

Ichigo was taken aback by her sudden attitude and even more surprised about her asking about the ever hyper woman who was dead. However his eyes softened when he remembered that he hadn't told anyone about what happened back in Hueco Mundo.

He held her hand and slowly let her loosen her hold on his shirt. He spotted a bench away from them and led her to sit on it because he knew that she needed to sit down in order for her to listen to the sad news about her friend.

"I haven't seen her in a long time and she hasn't called at all," Tatsuki whispered, looking at her hands on her lap. She was wearing a light blue top with dark blue jeans. Her hair was messy as usual showing her hard demeanor. She looked up at him and saw him looking at the distance and even when he turned his gaze to rest on her, she was still able to see the distant look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Tatsuki. It's hard for me to say this but Inoue, Ishida and Chad are all dead." He watched as the words sank in and her face changed from despair into horror then sadness. He knew that it was hard for her to hear that her best friend had died but after the death of all of his family and most of his friends, he realized that he couldn't feel anything, not a single emotion stung at his heart after his visit to their graves.

But he still tried to comfort her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "How could that happen?" She whispered looking straight into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't protect them," he told her trying to be as much as caring as possible though he knew that it would do no good as his voice was devoid from any emotion. It was simply hollow. He noticed a glint in her eyes that he identified as anger; slowly she started glaring at him. And before he knew it, he found himself on the ground. She _punched_ him on his face.

He looked at her bewildered and slowly reached for his newly bruised cheek. Ok, so he hadn't expected her to cry but to _hit_ him, now that was something. He noted that she was standing now and not sitting and was glaring at him intently, her eyes had some tears in them but before he could say anything, she left and didn't look back.

He sighed then tried to stand on his feet; he winced a little from his not fully healed injuries but was able to stand. He put his hand on his chest to try and ease the building pain then stuffed his hands in his pockets. Not even a childhood friend's leave hurt him, he noticed. He was turning into a cold uncaring bastard just like Byakuya and that annoyed the hell out of him.

* * *

The first division where the captaincy meeting was always held in was full of captains waiting for the first division's captain and general commander to start the meeting.

Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou held his staff and hit it against the floor announcing the beginning of the meeting.

Everyone kept quiet waiting for the commander to tell them what was wrong and answer the question as to why all the shinigami in the human world were called back to Seireitei. All of the captains had a pretty good guess that there was a new threat arising and it seemed like a pretty strong one.

"Now, the meeting will begin," Yamamoto announced, hitting his staff one more time. "As you all can see I called for all the shinigami in the living world to return," he started then took a deep breath before continuing, "There have been some strange activities in the living world lately."

"What do you mean by strange activities, Yama-jii?" The eighth division captain asked with his usual laidback voice while placing his hand under his chin.

"Arrancar have been popping in and out rapidly without infecting any damage to the humans who possess high spiritual pressure," Kurotsuchi Mayuri answered him while stepping out of where he was standing to look at Yamamoto as if waiting for permission to do whatever he had in mind. The first division's captain only nodded and gestured for the 12th captain to start his explanation.

Mayuri took out a remote control from his shinigami haori and started clicking on buttons as a large screen appeared for a better explanation. "As you can see here are some of what the 12th division recorded of the Arrancar's appearances," he explained while speeding the tape a little then stopping at various Arrancar who showed up.

"I don't see anything that we need to worry about. We can just send a higher ranked shinigami to dispose of them," Ukitake said matter of fact, then turned to look at the weird captain when he started talking again. "Well . . . the problem is that these Arrancar are no ordinary ones, they have high reiatsu that only a captain can take on," Kurotsuchi said while moving to another point in the tape.

"That's great! Finally a strong opponent appears." Zaraki licked his lips while feeling his blood boil and his hands itching towards his Zanpakutou who was screaming to cut someone and to feel the blood of someone strong. However no one paid him any attention as they continued with what they were discussing.

"How can there still be some powerful Arrancar after the fight with Aizen and his Espada?" the cold Kuchiki asked. Finally stepping into the conversation with a look that betrayed nothing of what he was thinking or feeling, just a simple impassive look.

"My guess is that they were able to survive through the war," Ukitake said thoughtfully then looked back at Mayuri whom seemed to have something else to say.

"Anyway, they seem to be hovering around none other than Karakura Town, as if they are searching for something or rather _someone,_" he said while hitting the button on the remote to close the screen and went back to his designated spot.

"I think that they are planning something and with Soul Society being weak at this moment, it will be hard to stop them," Soifon said, deep in her thoughts until the bang of the staff hitting the floor shook her out of her stupor.

"We will have to be ready for any attack and I will have one troop to go and stay in Karakura Town. Ukitake-Taichou you will be choosing who will go, the meeting is over." With that said the captains left to their own divisions to share the information with their subordinates and to decide who would be going to the living world.

Jyuushiro had thought about who would go to the living world and in no time he knew who would he have to choose for that mission. He would allow the ones who had previous experience in the living world to go on that mission.

Seireitei was full of shouts of orders as hell-butterflies filled the place, flying from one division to another.

As two new hell-butterflies appeared from the Senkai Gate two figures were seen running behind them. The first to appear was Renji followed by Rukia.

"Something must be wrong," the red-haired shinigami said looking around him as troops of shinigami ran around them each going to its own direction.

"You bet there is something wrong! Or they wouldn't have called all the shinigami back to Seireitei!" The raven-haired shinigami yelled out of frustration. She didn't want to leave Ichigo in that kind of state because she knew that he would do something extremely rash and end up getting in really big trouble.

Renji blinked at her several times, surprised by her sudden outburst. "What's wrong Rukia?" He asked her curiously, wanting to know what had gotten into her to simply let her frustration show easily.

"I'm sorry but I was supposed to be helping a friend not ditching him," she answered while rubbing her temple, already feeling a headache building.

"I know," he told her, head bent down but the mood quickly changed by a voice ordering all the shinigami to go to their own divisions to be informed of what new orders and events had been discussed in the captaincy meeting. With that the two friends parted ways each going to their division, with Rukia to the thirteenth while Renji went to the sixth.

Once arriving at her division, Rukia heard Kiyone and Sentarou arguing about something or _everything _so she made her way towards them. Once they caught sight of her, they quickly raced to reach her.

"Kuchiki-san, Ukitake-Taichou—" Kiyone started then got pushed away by Sentarou whom continued what she was saying "—wants you in his office now!" He said while dodging hits from the fuming Kiyone.

Rukia smiled at them nervously and quickly waved them goodbye and left them to their constant fights. She hastily made her way towards her captain's office, knocked once before she heard Ukitake's voice beckoning her to come in.

"Ukitake-Taichou," Rukia began while bowing in respect before standing up. "You called for me?" She asked while nearing his office and sitting down when he gestured for her to sit.

"Yes Rukia, there have been some trouble lately so Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou asked me to form one troop to go to the living world and you're going to be in the troop," the white-haired man smiled at her softly. He knew that Rukia loved to go to the living world and he had a pretty good guess as to why, so he decided to give her the opportunity of going back.

"R-really?" Rukia blinked in confusion. When Ukitake nodded with his smile still in place, she beamed at him.

With that she thanked him before asking if he needed anything else from her and left with a smile on her face. She was told to head to her house and wait until the other members were informed.

The raven-haired shinigami made her way through the Kuchiki Mansion all the way to her brother's room. She knocked once and waited for his permission and when she heard it she opened the door and bowed in respect.

"Nii-sama, I'm back," she told him though she knew that he would care less about that but she had to tell him both ways.

"Welcome back, Rukia," he replied coldly, his back was facing her so she was spared from looking into his cold, burning gaze.

"I have been chosen to be on the special troop to the living world," she informed him while trying to be as impassive as him but deep down she was smiling inwardly.

"Very well, you may leave now if you don't have anything else to say," he stated coldly still not facing her, though in the inside he wished her the best of luck with her mission.

"Hai, nii-sama," she said while sliding the traditional Japanese door behind her and left to her own room to take a rest after her trip from the living world back to Seireitei. Though she felt a little down by her brother's impassive attitude but she should have expected nothing less from him.

_He's a true Kuchiki._

* * *

The orange-haired man started making his way back to his home where he thought that he could get some rest and peace, though he knew that, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon because the memories would keep on hunting him day and night, asleep or awake. He kept his gaze on the road before him as he slowly walked to the place he once called a worthy home.

Upon reaching the said home, he jammed the key into the hole and pushed the door open then closed it behind him. He stood in place, surveying every part of the house his eyes laid upon as if expecting someone to just pop out of nowhere. He sighed and continued walking into the house towards the kitchen to grab something to drink. He opened the fridge door and took out a box of juice and stared at it for a minute as he remembered how Rukia would ask him to open the juice box for her.

He shook his head in an attempt of getting rid of the thoughts of his midget friend and closed the fridge's door. There were some photos on it, he noticed, so he took his time in observing them. There were pictures of him, his father, his twin sisters and his mother. They looked so happy and he wished that those days would return as feelings of bitterness lashed in his chest.

He tried to look away from the pictures and in the process; he caught sight of the calendar hanging on the wall. It said: seventh of July—how didn't he realize that today was his birthday? Today was the day he turned 17, two years since he met Rukia and was given shinigami powers. Well…a lot of things happened in those two years and he was sure as hell that he would never be able to forget about them.

Though today was his birthday, he mumbled curses under his breath. _Great, now more memories will flow in, so 'might as well find a place to drown in the now painful memories_. He could remember his last year's birthday. His father kicked him out of the house _literally_ and told him to go hang out with his friends, while Yuzu woke up early in the morning to bake the birthday cake and to prepare the necessary foods and drinks. Karin on the other hand, was supposed to be in charge of the decorations and calling his friends. However, his father was the one who bought him the gifts, much to his dismay.

Ichigo's memories couldn't find a more suitable time other than now, to resurface and hunt him. He didn't even bother to finish his drink as he spaced out, remembering the happy moments. He remembered how shocked he was when his friends brought him back home that night.

He was met by a lovely party and was grateful for his family. His father like always gave him a gift that he deserved to be punched for—a _condom_! What the hell was the old man thinking about?! He could remember exactly the feelings of embarrassment and anger. And to his bad luck Rukia was also in his party but the problem was that; she _didn't_ know what a condom was. And that's when his crazy father started explaining things to her, while she in return turned a dark shade of red.

Karin brought him the hand band he was wearing at the moment with a soccer ball while Yuzu gave him a watch. He loved their gifts a lot and now he would treasure them as they were the last things he'd ever see or receive from them. Rukia knew about his birthday and gave him a really special present. It was a diary that had different shades of orange – to his annoyance - with Chappie the Bunny as its title.

However that Chappie was what caught his attention and made the book dearer to him. She drew two bunnies; one that resembled him, with orange spiky hair and his shinigami outfit with Zangetsu in hand and of course a scowl on his face. While the other Chappie had the shinigami outfit, instead of the orange hair, it had a raven short silky hair with a faint trait of a smile and holding the most beautiful Zanpakutou, Sode No Shirayuki.

Everyone was surprised at the strange cover, though he wasn't. He gave her a genuine smile and she smiled back at him. For the first time, Ichigo didn't criticize her drawings. When he opened the book, he found a note written in it: _To my best idiot friend,_ _Happy Birthday Ichigo! _With a small Chappie on the side holding a present in his hands.

Ichigo felt like crying right now but he couldn't bring himself to. It was as if his tears had dried up and nothing was left. He could almost picture them standing around the birthday cake which was a black-forest with fresh cherries on top of it. They sang "Happy Birthday!" to him and ate just like always—_happy._

Ichigo shook his head and decided to go out for a walk and return back when he felt like sleeping. Staying at home at those times would most certainly bring back the buried memories and urge them to resurface. He threw the unfinished juice box into the trash can then grabbed a black jacket before going out just in case it rained or got too cold then slammed the door shut behind him.

He walked through the empty streets, not knowing where he was heading, just walking to wherever his feet were taking him, until he found himself in a very familiar place. That exact spot was where he was supposed to be left, dying thanks to Kuchiki Byakuya but was saved by Urahara. An image of Rukia standing in front of him while he was lying on the ground flashed in his eyes.

He remembered every little thing she had told him or more like had _ordered_ him. Not to come after her had been the first thing she had told him, it had sounded almost like she had been pleading him not to follow her, afraid for his life. Nevertheless, he had come and had rescued her against all her wishes. He smiled faintly as he imagined her lit-up face when she had seen him coming to her rescue. A light breeze soothed his tired expressions as he sighed heavily and continued walking on the road that who knew where it would take him next.

Ichigo walked heavily in the dark night, a distant look in his hazel eyes, hands shoved into his pockets. He looked up at the pitch dark sky as a drop of water fell on his forehead. He reached to wipe the cold drop but soon found that it was useless as more followed after. Though it was raining, he made no move to find a place to hide in until it stopped. He simply stood in place, facing the night sky and letting the rain wash over his face. It was as if it was washing his sins and mistakes away. He closed his eyes, taking into the cold water soaking him.

Little did he know, a dark figure was in the sky, watching him with an impassive expression on his face with sharp eyes while folding his arms over his chest. "Kurosaki Ichigo, you are mine now," he whispered as he turned away from him. With a click of his finger, he disappeared into the night leaving nothing behind him but a low laugh which soon dissipated into the sound of the pouring rain.

Ichigo snapped his eyes open as he felt a strong surge of reiatsu behind him. He turned to look at the owner of that strong reiatsu, and noted that it was an Arrancar.

"Who are you?" he demanded, irritated by the Hollow's presence. His hatred for the Hollows had increased since the winter's war with Aizen.

"You can call me, Miedo Espantapájaros," the Arrancar introduced himself as he placed one of his hands on his chest while the other behind his back and bowed slightly. He had black, short silky hair and pale white skin. His Hollow bone was located on his wrist, making it seem like a bracelet, with spikes sticking out of the bracelet from all sides. His outfit was simply colored black to match the dark nights of Hueco Mundo, though it had the same design as Ulquiorra's, Ichigo noted.

However what caught Ichigo's attention was his eyes. The irises had the color of crimson blood, and were scary and intimidating. The Arrancar Miedo straightened up from his bow to stare at Ichigo with his bloody eyes.

"What do you want?" The young Kurosaki asked him with icy tone and narrowed eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, you are Kurosaki Ichigo. The human who killed Aizen Sousuke," he stated more than asked as Ichigo only nodded and waited for the said Arrancar to continue. The Arrancar unveiled his Zanpakutou from under his robes and within a second, he disappeared. It all happened quickly as Ichigo was able to dodge an attack coming from the Arrancar. The Arrancar used only his hand to try and slash Ichigo through the shoulder.

"What the hell do you want from me?!" The orange-haired man shouted as he quickly took out his substitute badge and changed into his shinigami form, with Zangetsu already in hand eager to cut the Hollow and feel his blood on its metal.

"I just want to test my strength against the person who defeated the shinigami Aizen." His answer was met by a confused look from Ichigo which made him open for attacks. With that, the dark-haired Arrancar managed to get a scratch on Ichigo's cheek.

The young Vizard cursed inwardly for his lack of attention and for letting himself open for any attack. Quickly he readied himself for the attack that followed the previous one and was able to dodge it successfully. Though, he didn't have time to rest as another one came, Zangetsu clashed with the hand of the Arrancar and was quickly swiped off like a fly.

Before Ichigo could comprehend anything, he felt his grip on his Zanpakutou loosen a little and that was all that was needed to make Zangetsu fall from his hands and for a slash to find its place on his chest. He panted heavily as he clutched his injured chest and coughed up blood. His wound was raining blood on the cold street though it didn't last long as the falling rain washed over the street cleaning it and making room for more blood to fall.

"Is this all the substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo that everyone in Hueco Mundo fears capable of?" He asked amazed, though his words had another meaning which Ichigo was fully capable of understanding. That bastard was mocking him, making him look like a weakling. Ichigo felt anger inside of him and with that an opening was found for the hollow to take control.

**"I think it's time for you King to tag out and let me handle this," **the hollow chirped as his voice kept getting louder and louder by the second until Ichigo could hear him talking in his ear.

'_No, not yet—I'm not done yet!' _Ichigo tried to block the Hollow's mocking voice as he tried to take over his body.

**"Yeah right! Even if you are on the verge of death you'd say that. Face it King, you can't win. There's no reason for you to fight now with all of your friends dead, so let go."**

The Hollow smirked as he felt himself winning over his King's resolve. Ichigo's resolve had weakened greatly since that damned war and the hollow was happy. Since his important people's lives had been taken away, he knew that Ichigo's will to live would weaken along with his resolve, as he stopped fighting to protect his friends and fought only for himself, for _revenge_. That happened because he thought that he had lost them all but the Hollow knew that there was still other people that still cared about him, although the young Kurosaki had forgotten about them.

Ichigo felt himself slipping into darkness as the words of his Hollow echoed through his head, making him think that maybe his Hollow-self for once was right. Maybe he should let go and let himself be devoured by the darkness of his Hollow, he would at least find happiness when he met up with his family and friends but he doubted that they would be happy to know that he had wasted his life.

Then something clicked in his mind—how could he forget about _her? _The one who gave him his shinigami powers? She was still alive and in need of him to protect her – though she would never admit it. He still had people to care about and he wasn't going to let that Hollow cloud his mind and convince him into letting go.

His inner battle was disturbed by the icy calm voice of the Arrancar he was fighting. "Show me your true power, Kurosaki. I know that this is not your limit, you fought with Aizen and defeated him, yet you are fighting with me and unable to even scratch me, even though I'm using a power that is leveled as the 10th Espada." Miedo kept his gaze locked with Ichigo as he noticed the shocked expression on the substitute shinigami's face.

Ichigo realized at that moment that he had been getting weaker every time he fought for revenge. For the past days he had been killing Hollows relentlessly for the sake of revenge and to unleash his anger on them. He never used to fight like that, he always fought for his friends, to protect them and that's why he obtained that power.

He noted Zangetsu's location with the corner of his eye, waiting for the right moment that would enable him to get hold of his Zanpakutou and go Bankai. A couple of seconds passed by as they stood in silence, waiting for the other to make a move. Finally Ichigo dashed towards his Zanpakutou and grabbed it, and without wasting any more time, his scream for the word Bankai was heard and was followed by a massive explosion of reiatsu.

Miedo only smirked as he flared his reiatsu readying himself for the upcoming battle. The dust cleared and Ichigo appeared wearing his black outfit, holding Tensa Zangetsu in hand with a scowl plastered on his face. A look of determination was in his eyes, however the Arrancar didn't even waver from the new look in the eyes of the Kurosaki; he only kept on smirking as he could sense that the orange-haired shinigami's reiatsu was unstable. He knew that, that shinigami would never be able to defeat him unless his dark reiatsu was gone, though he fully knew that he was a Vizard but most of his reiatsu was Hollow and uncontrolled.

Ichigo used shunpo to appear in front of the dark-haired hollow, Zanpakutou pushing against his hand that he's using as a weapon. Ichigo released the close encounter and instead slashed vertically at the Arrancar. Miedo used Sonido to avoid being slashed and appeared behind Ichigo to slash him but failed as Ichigo used shunpo again to stand behind him to try and cut him. Miedo quickly disappeared and kicked Ichigo in the abdomen sending him flying to finally hit the street with a loud thud.

The young Kurosaki stood on his feet with the help of his Zanpakutou then looked up to see nothing, the Arrancar was nowhere to be seen but then he was punched and kicked again, forcing him to be slammed against the ground. He noticed the Arrancar coming to attack him again but was unable to defend himself as he was pierced through the chest. Ichigo's grip on Zangetsu loosened as he felt himself losing control of his Bankai powers. He stared down at the hand piercing him and suddenly was caught up by coughing fits.

Miedo slowly removed his hand from the shinigami's chest and looked at him as the blood started flowing freely from his wounds. "What a waste of time," he sighed before leaving the young man dying. Ichigo felt himself falling until he felt the cold street hit his chest. He choked on his breath as he tried to suck in as much air as he could.

_Could this be it…? _

He could feel himself wavering between the darkness of the night and the darkness of his unconsciousness. Finally he gave up on staying awake as he drifted into nothingness.

-

To be continued...

...

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* * *

**

Well...did you like this chapter? I hope that you've enjoyed reading it.

**As for the Arrancar's name meaning:**

**Miedo -- fear**

**Espantapájaros -- scarecrow**

**Have a nice day!**

**~KWF~**


	4. Sheet of Despair

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**-**

**Chapter four**

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* * *

**

Rukia snapped her eyes open as she sat up from her sleeping position. Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks as she breathed heavily. She took a deep breath while closing her eyes, but that was something she surely didn't want to do as pictures of the nightmare she had, came rushing back to her.

She opened her glassy eyes; tears were starting to form at the corners of her violet orbs. She quickly wiped them off with the back of her hand and slowly got up from her bed. Walking towards her closet to change into her shinigami robes, she couldn't contain herself as more tears tugged at her eyes. She blinked rapidly in an attempt of clearing them but failed miserably.

One of the worst nightmares had decided to attack her peaceful dreams, the one she hated the most and didn't even want to happen or exist for the record. She dreamed about _him_ dying, somewhere in that cruel world. Somewhere alone in the cold nights of the living world as nothing seemed to feel warm again.

She looked at herself in the mirror located on her wall and sighed. Her eyes were somewhat puffy and red from the small amounts of tears that tried to escape, her face paler than usual and her raven hair was messy. After getting herself ready, she slipped open her door and headed towards her brother's room.

The raven-haired shinigami knocked softly on the wooden door of her brother's room and waited for his reply. Upon hearing it, she slid the door open and bowed slightly. "Nii-sama, I'm going out for a walk until I'm called for the mission in the living world, do you need anything from me?" She asked politely though her voice was a little colder than usual.

"You may go," the stoic Kuchiki told her without looking at her. He was working on some papers that needed to be finished quickly. Though Byakuya didn't see the face of his adopted sister before she left, he could tell that she was unusually cold and sad. He wondered what had happened to her to act that strangely but quickly dismissed the thought and wished her inwardly the best of luck with her mission, as he knew that it wouldn't be easy.

Rukia slowly walked through the Kuchiki mansion absentminded not paying attention to her surroundings. She was thinking about the dream she had, it seemed so realistic to her that it frightened her to even think about it. Seeing him falling like that, bleeding and_ dying_ alone in the middle of the street and above all, it was_ raining. _

She had warned him before she left the living world not to be rash and she was sure that Urahara had done the same thing with him. They saw how fazed he was and feared the worst for his life. The last bits of his resolve were shattered the moment he saw the rest of his family dead and that's what worried her.

She felt herself bumping into someone and looked up to see non-other than her childhood friend. Abarai Renji looked at her, concern clear in his eyes. "Are you okay, Rukia?" He asked her worriedly.

"Yeah, I was just thinking," she assured him then took his offered hand and stood up. Dusting herself although there was no dust on her, just doing it out of habit. She looked up at him and saw his worried expression quickly fade to be replaced with an excited one instead.

"Rukia, get yourself ready. We are going to the living world," he told her while grinning.

"We?" The raven-haired woman echoed.

"Yeah, I have been chosen to go to the living world too!" He exclaimed excitedly though his tone soon changed to a more serious one, "I can't help but have a bad feeling that something bad have happened." He looked away from her to stare at the gardens outside as sakura petals flew with the wind.

"Ah," she replied then started walking ahead of him with him following her steps to the Senkai Gate. An uneasy feeling sat in the pit of Rukia's stomach as anxiety stabbed her heart like millions of swords. She was afraid and she didn't care to hide that because all she cared about at that moment was to get to Ichigo as soon as possible.

They finally reached the supposed place and there stood the 10th squad captain Hitsugaya Toshirou with his Fuku-Taichou Matsumoto Rangiku and next to them stood Hisagi Shuuhei. They greeted them then stood next to them, waiting for the Gate that would take them to the living world to open.

Rangiku squealed in happiness as she kept on rambling about the wonderful shops in the living world. And although the white-haired captain told her that she wouldn't go shopping there, she paid him no mind as she talked about how great the clothes were in the living world.

On the other hand Hisagi and Renji were chatting casually about the mission awaiting them and didn't seem to be the least bit worried, they both were confident that it's not going to be as bad as their captains told them. The only one that didn't utter a word since they stood waiting for the gate to open was Rukia as she was too anxious to even talk casually with them.

The gates opened and with that, Rukia's quest for relief started as she was the first one to enter. She raced ahead of the others ignoring their calls until they reached the living world. Once standing outside the wooden doors, she felt something cold touch her forehead. She looked up at the sky only to find more cold drops fall on her.

It was _raining! _

Rukia felt something tug at her heart as she noticed that the sky was pitch black which could only mean night. She felt her heart beats race in her chest as she had a look of horror on her face.

"What's wrong Rukia?" Renji asked her in a more demanding tone. Now that he had witnessed that strange attitude of hers, he really started getting worried about her.

Though Rukia didn't answer. She didn't have the time to answer him nor answer anyone's questions. She only had the time for one thing which was: find Ichigo as quick as possible. She closed her eyes ignoring her friends' whispers and focused on finding Ichigo's reiatsu.

_Nothing..._

She furrowed her eyebrows in a more concentrated manner and tried harder to find his reiatsu, _still nothing!_

Then it hit her, she quickly snapped her eyes open with a look of sheer horror tainting them and stared at her red-haired friend. "R-Renji, I-I can't find his reiatsu," she stuttered. She looked like she was on the verge of tears but they knew that she would never cry in front of them.

Renji looked at her surprised, along with everyone else then quickly focused on finding their comrade's reiatsu.

"Renji, isn't it supposed to be high? You know Ichigo, he always oozes reiatsu. B-but I-I can't feel it," she whispered to her friend.

"Don't worry Rukia. He's fine, you know him; too stubborn to die," he tried to assure her but knew that nothing would help until she saw the orange-haired thick-headed shinigami. Though deep down Renji was as worried as her.

"There! It's low but it's definitely there!" Hitsugaya turned to the raven-haired shinigami whom looked like she was on the verge of tears but was too stubborn to let them fall. Once everyone confirmed the location of the low reiatsu, they all headed towards it with Rukia going faster than her usual speed.

They finally reached the location, the raven-haired shinigami searched around for her friend. Her gaze travelled from one place to another, not even his bright orange hair was seen.

"Is this the right place?" Matsumoto whispered near her Taichou's ear afraid that Rukia might hear anything. She already knew how deeply her raven-haired friend cared for the strawberry boy although she kept denying it.

"Of course I am," Toshirou replied back in a whisper while folding his arms over his chest and observing the place for any signs of the substitute shinigami.

Rukia walked away from the group to take a better look at the place and while she was walking she noted that there was something black lying on the muddy streets. Cautiously, she neared the black thing until she was a few feet away from it. Her eyes widened in awe as she ran towards it. She fell on her knees with one hand supporting her and turned the black object so it would be facing her.

That time she couldn't prohibit herself from crying, tears ran down her cheeks along with the rain. But she could still taste the saltiness of them. Ichigo lay on the cold street with his head on Rukia's lap. She lifted her hand that was on the street to brush the tainted orange locks away from his face, but didn't get to do that as she noticed how red her hand had become.

The moment she saw the red liquid, she snapped back from her crying state and called out for her friends. Her biggest worry was the hole in his chest, it was too deep and kept on bleeding without stopping. She tried to heal his injury using her demon magic but her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Renji was the first to arrive and the first to witness how close Rukia and Ichigo were, it hurt him to see her like that but he quickly pushed the thoughts away, Rukia would never think of him as something more than a best friend and he had to understand that.

He knelt beside her and noticed how badly injured the orange-haired man was. He's almost dead and with his reiatsu being that low, there was no chance for him to survive but he knew better than to give up or Rukia would beat him up. He quickly moved her away from the almost dead man and made room for Hisagi to come and help him with carrying the unconscious shinigami.

Rukia wiped away her tears and put on her cold façade which cracked every minute but stayed on nevertheless. Matsumoto on the other hand watched as the three men sprinted to Urahara's shop where Ichigo could be healed. The strawberry-blonde woman neared Rukia and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Rukia, he'll be fine."

"No, he won't be. You saw how badly injured he is. I told him not to be rash and to stay out of trouble," Rukia whispered after finally giving up on keeping her cold face and broke into tears. All Rangiku could do at that moment was hug her friend.

* * *

"Oh my! Get him in quickly!" Urahara told them as he played with his fan in front of his face then went after them. He surveyed the damage with a serious look on his face that made Rukia all the more afraid. She knew that the blond shop keeper would never get that serious unless there was something really wrong.

"Urahara, can you help him?" She asked worriedly as she knelt beside her orange-haired friend.

"I'll do my best, though I'm no medic and it would've been better if Unohana-Taichou attended to him. What's worrying me is the wound in his chest," he said while observing the specific injury.

He motioned for everyone to go and sit in the other room as he and Yoruichi tried to do their best. One hour had passed since they brought Ichigo there and the more time passed the more Rukia became anxious and it wasn't a good thing.

She heard Urahara's voice and quickly stood up; she saw the door opening to reveal the blond shop keeper followed by the goddess of flash.

"How's he?" not bothered by how other people thought of her, she quickly asked.

Urahara had a grim face as Yoruichi looked at her with sad eyes. The raven-haired shinigami felt her heart skip a beat as she stared at them with wide eyes and repeated her question, "tell me, how is he?!" However that time she yelled.

"Rukia calm down." Renji stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder to try and get her to sit down but she shrugged his hand off her shoulder and walked up to the two former captains.

"Tell me now," she hissed.

"We've tried everything but he has lost a great amount of blood, it's all up to him now. The wound he sustained in his chest was the thing I feared the most. It has been caused by an Arrancar and I'm afraid that because of his nature, he would turn into a hollow, an _Arrancar,_" he informed the raven-haired woman as he tilted his hat to hide his eyes.

Rukia's eyes widened, as she felt her knees giving away but was quickly caught by Yoruichi. "Rukia, you can see him if you want and don't worry, he won't allow himself to be devoured by his hollow." She squeezed her shoulders gently to assure her that everything was going to be fine.

"Alright, if you don't mind Hitsugaya-Taichou, could you call Unohana-Taichou to come and check on Kurosaki-san?" Kisuke's chipper demeanor was back as he waved his fan in front of him. The white-haired captain only nodded as he took out his soul pager and called for Unohana to come.

As the tension finally started to ease down a bit, Rukia was led by the cat-eyed woman into the quiet room where Ichigo laid soundlessly. Once Rukia was seated beside him, Yoruichi left her alone to give her some lone time with the injured Kurosaki.

Rukia watched the sleeping man as he breathed heavily through his butchered chest and tried to suck in air as much as he could. He looked so vulnerable and far away from being peaceful, she watched him as he moaned in pain from some invisible force pressing on him and wished for him to stay alive. She choked on her tears as he moaned again in pain and furrowed his eyebrows tightly as beads of sweat trailed down his scratched cheeks.

The door behind her opened and with it entered the blond shop keeper, a bowl of water and a white piece of cloth in his hands. Her gaze followed Urahara as he navigated his way towards the sleeping man. He knelt down beside her and smiled slightly at Rukia as he dipped the piece of cloth into the bowl of water.

Upon placing it on Ichigo's forehead, he told Rukia to do the same thing until Unohana arrived. And with that, Urahara left them alone in the silent room again. A couple of minutes passed by, therefore Rukia decided that it was time to wet the white article again.

Wetting it with the cold water, she re-placed it on top of his forehead again. Her hand lingered on his head as it slowly moved to brush a few strands of orange hair. A tear slipped down her cheek to finally settle on Ichigo's cheek. She quickly wiped away her tears and kept her gaze steady on her friend.

"Rukia, you should rest." A voice came from behind her. She looked at its source to find the red-haired Fuku-Taichou leaning against the door's frame with his arms folded across his chest. She cracked a smile at him.

"I'm fine Renji," she assured him while returning her gaze to look at the orange-haired shinigami.

"Rukia...," he started but didn't get to continue as the raven-haired shinigami interrupted him.

"I'm fine," she stated without looking at him. He made his way to where she's sitting and seated himself next to her.

"It will do you no good Rukia, if you don't get some rest. Remember the mission," he told her in a strict tone as he stared at the lying man with narrowed eyes.

"I told you, I'm fine and I'm fully capable of carrying out the mission," she hissed icily while glaring at him through her cold eyes. He sighed and made a move to get up when he turned to look at her softly.

"We'll be at Kurosaki's. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind us living temporary with him," he smirked then walked towards the door, shutting it behind him.

* * *

"How's she?" Matsumoto asked worriedly as she spotted the tattooed man walking out of the room.

"She says that she's fine but I doubt that," he sighed as he leaned against a near wall and closed his eyes momentarily then opened them to look at the white-haired captain.

"She mustn't let her emotions get in the way like that," Hisagi finally voiced his thoughts for everyone to hear.

"Give her a break, she cares about him you know," Matsumoto berated the 69 tattooed shinigami.

"We should head to Kurosaki's and rest for a while until something happens around here," the red-haired man suggested.

"Fine, then we should get going," Toshirou informed Urahara as the group of shinigami started their trip towards their orange-haired friend's house.

_Rukia...I know how much you care about him but try not to blame yourself, _Renji looked back at the closed door with caring eyes that held a hint of sadness in them. He had cared about her since the first time they met when they were young children and with time passing, his emotions got the best of him and developed into something much more, much deeper. He loved her. The moment he saw her state when they found Ichigo, he felt hurt and somewhat betrayed. He knew that he shouldn't feel like that but it's not in his hands.

He slowly turned to walk away from the closed door as he smiled bitterly; she loved the orange-haired fool while he was nothing more than a best friend and he would learn to accept that. Walking out of the shop, he spotted Rangiku waiting for him with a smile on her face. She had to be thinking the same thing he was; he smiled back at her then started his walk towards Kurosaki Ichigo's empty house.

"Don't worry, you'll find someone." Matsumoto nudged his shoulder while winking at him. He smirked at her and continued walking.

Upon arriving, something clicked in Renji's mind. "Where is Kurosaki's body?" He asked the group of shinigami, when he got no answer, a drop of sweat made its way down his face.

"I'm sure Urahara will take care of things," he said nervously then walked towards the fridge to grab something to drink.

* * *

"**Yo, King.**" Ichigo heard a voice calling him and immediately recognized it. He could recognize that chilly voice anywhere. He noted that he's now in his inner world, standing on one of the horizontal buildings. He opened his eyes slowly and waited for his eyes to adjust to the light.

_The light..._

There was no light, no sun; instead it was cloudy and somewhat icy which confused him to no end. That was the first time he'd been to his inner world when it's in that state. Light drops of water or so he thought fell on him as he stared at the white figure in front of him.

"**You're pathetic, you know that king,**" the Hollow snickered as he motioned around at the groggy place, "**see what happens when you're weak,**" he said in a disgusted tone.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Ichigo replied, sarcasm dripping with each word he spoke, yet his face showed nothing more than a deep scowl and icy glare.

"**And you know what? This place will soon become worse but I won't be the one to watch that happen, it'll be you, this time you'll become the horse,**" the hollow chuckled as he unsheathed Zangetsu and held it before him in a stance Ichigo recognized as Bankai.

"Where's old man Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked in a calm tone.

"**He gave up on you!**" Hichigo yelled then called out for Bankai. Moments later he swung his white Zanpakutou to clear the dust around him then smirked at his king.

Ichigo was shocked to hear that but didn't show it; instead he kept his impassive expression and unsheathed his black Zangetsu to change into Bankai. If the hollow wanted a fight then that's exactly what he'd get. A fight he'd never forget.

For the past few days, Ichigo learned to fight for himself and only himself. He had no one alive to fight for so why bother finding someone now. He released his Bankai and stood tall in his place waiting for his hollow to make the first move.

He didn't have to wait for long as his hollow attacked him relentlessly, swinging his white Zanpakutou in attempt of cutting the orange-haired shinigami. Ichigo didn't find a lot of difficulty at first as he was stronger now but that didn't mean that the fight would be over soon as his hollow looked like he was toying with him.

Hichigo smirked then backed away from the young Kurosaki. "**Take a look at this **_**king.**_" He gestured for Ichigo to look at an empty spot in the air and Ichigo complied. Slowly, a black aura started flowing in the air around that specific spot until it almost made some kind of a black barrier. White shreds started gathering. " **You see this, it's a hollow mask, **_**your**_** hollow mask, when it's fully revealed, you'll lose and I'll win,**" he chuckled.

"Then I'll just have to finish you off before this mask appears," Ichigo smirked then raised his black Zanpakutou to slash it vertically, black reiatsu dashed towards the white hollow when Ichigo shouted, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The wave of black hit its target however when the dust cleared, Hichigo was still in his place with a smirk plastered on his face. "**You, beat me? Quit joking around!**" He laughed as he pointed at the orange-haired shinigami then back at himself.

Without sparing anymore time in exchanging sarcastic comments, the white hollow disappeared from view. A moment later he was flying in the sky while shouting, "**Getsuga Tensho!**"

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he tried to block away the devastating attack. Finally, he was able to slash through it while panting but was shocked as he stared up to find his opposite self getting ready to fire a Cero. "**See if you can stop this!**" He laughed menacingly as he fired the red blast at full power.

Ichigo's eyes widened as the red blast neared him, he couldn't use Cero unless he put on his hollow mask and doing that was out of question. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes with both of his hands covering his face, shielding it and readying himself for the upcoming pain.

The blast hit its desired target and dust flew everywhere. The blast was strong, strong to the point that the sky's black clouds dissipated a little and didn't cover the battle ground anymore. The dust slowly cleared, revealing a panting man drenched with blood.

Ichigo used his Zanpakutou to support his weight and stop himself from falling. Blood flowed freely from his wounds as he wiped the red liquid out of his eyes, though that didn't help as the wound on his forehead wouldn't stop bleeding.

"**I can't believe how a weakling like **_**you**_** is able to control my powers,**" the hollow sneered as he neared the almost-on-his-feet man.

Ichigo's eyes were blank and impassive, the glint of resolve that would always taint them was gone. He felt something cold touch the tip of his chin and lift it up; he locked eyes with the white hollow who grinned like a mad man.

"**Do you feel that soon-former king? The feeling of loss, take a look at the mask; it's almost complete!**" The hollow's laugh echoed through the place as his hold on Ichigo tightened.

The orange-haired man glanced at the mask and found that indeed he had no time left, only the eyes left and everything would be over. He glared at his hollow as he could feel the once-light touch holding his chin turning into a suffocating grip around his neck.

He gasped for air as he could feel the bones of his neck crashing under the tight grip of his hollow. "**You can't escape,**" Hichigo whispered in the struggling man's ear, with that Ichigo could feel blackness overwhelm him.

_Ichigo!_

He managed to hear someone calling his name but couldn't recognize the owner's voice. He cracked his eyes open to feel another drip of water falling on his forehead.

* * *

"Urahara! You have to come quickly!" The raven-haired shinigami shouted, panic in her voice as she ran out of the room to find the blond shop keeper.

"What's wrong Kuchiki-san?" The former 12th captain said while being dragged into the room by the frightened Kuchiki. The moment his eyes rested on the shaking form of Ichigo, his all-chipper-and-surprised demeanor changed into dead seriousness. He quickly squatted next to the lying man and started removing the bandages that covered his chest wound cautiously.

A groan was heard as the wound was exposed to the room's air. Rukia's face held a stunned look with wide eyes. She fell back away from her orange-haired friend and shook her head like she was denying something.

"Dammit," Urahara muttered under his breath. Rukia stared at him with surprise. That was the first time she heard him cursing, even if they were in a pinch he would never curse. In that moment, her worst fears were confirmed; something terrible was happening.

She looked back at the unconscious man, he was sweating heavily and panting, beads of sweat trailed down his forehead. His shaking form wasn't making it any easier for the raven-haired woman as she approached him carefully.

"What's going on Urahara?" She whispered, looking at the blond man next to her.

"He's losing." With that Urahara got up and walked out of the room, hat tilted to shield his eyes from view. Rukia was shocked and scared at the same time, could it be that he's going to die. She immediately berated herself as she tried to push that kind of thoughts out of her mind. Though, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about that possibility.

The hole in his chest kept reminding her about that possibility; it looked bad, worse than before. One would say that things were meant to get better after they were bad but in her life, things were never meant to get better.

The wound he suffered was something that Urahara himself couldn't heal. She noticed as it grew in size while bleeding, a black aura was emitting from it and she could recognize it as the hollow's within. Her hand hesitantly moved to rest gently on his forehead. She stroked his orange locks gently while trying to contain herself from crying. A tear slipped from her eye unnoticed to finally rest on his forehead.

_Ichigo..._

-

To be continued...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!

**I'm evil, aren't I? I know that I'm always leaving you at a critical point of the story but that's what makes the story all the more interesting, right?! Please review, pretty please! *Puppy eyes* :P**

**Have a nice day!**

**~KWF~**


	5. Breathe Into Me

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Breathe Your Life Into Me

**-**

_**Hey there! Sorry for the late update...well, anyway I decided to put a song in this chapter; it's "Breathe Into Me" by Red. Hope you like it! R&R.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, sadly. **_

_**Chapter five**_

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* * *

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_Ichigo..._

Rukia was afraid, worried, she couldn't really tell what she felt at the moment. She's worried; yes, but that's the only emotion that she could barely recognize. Her eyes watered with tears that held all her emotions, ready to be released but she pushed them back like she would always do.

She had to be strong, strong for _him. _He's fighting right now something that could only be defeated by him and no one else could help him. So she had to stand her own and keep herself strong, she felt that it's the least thing she could do at that time. She wanted to help so bad but she couldn't, that was _his_ fight.

The raven-haired woman could feel his reiatsu weakening while his hollow within was getting stronger with every minute that passed. Each time, she would look at Urahara with pleading eyes, asking him to interfere or at least do something; she would feel her heart ache more as he would shake his head, telling her that it's out of his hands now.

More tears would bottle up in her eyes, forcing her to blink rapidly in order to clear her blurry vision and stare at the orange-haired man. She heard him groan in pain as the hole in his chest gave off more black reiatsu and bled the red liquid.

The sounds of pain started to lower until it became a shallow whimper.

No sound was heard after a while; Rukia feared the worst as she noticed his heaving chest slow his pace until it looked like it stopped completely. She snapped her head at the blond shop keeper with wide eyes. Urahara along with Yoruichi were by the side of the orange-haired shinigami in a matter of seconds with looks of sheer terror for the life of the man lying before them.

Rukia could feel her eyes and will giving up on her as her awaited tears finally broke free. She closed her eyes; her head was bowed so as to hide her face from view. Her body shook as she tried to keep herself from making any noise. Her crying came out as a muffled sound as she kept her face hidden. Her fists were clinched making her knuckles turn white.

A few tears fell on his sweaty face.

_And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me_

_And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you_

_And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore_

_And this is what I choose when it's all left up to me_

His head felt cold, all of his limps felt cold until something, touched his forehead followed by another things. He felt warm as the drops of water -as he presumed- trickled down his skin. He felt energy slowly seep through him. Every vein in his body seemed to react the same way, trying to absorb that new source of energy.

Ichigo struggled to open his eyes, his hollow's hand still gripping his throat choking him. Using the last bits of his power he struggled to lift his hands in attempt of trying to release himself from the killer grip.

He was out of power and he knew it but he didn't give up, not that time. A yell was heard through his inner world, soon after; white reiatsu flowed out of Ichigo's body and enveloped him like a shield protecting him from any danger. The hollow was startled by the sudden flow of reiatsu but was more surprised as that reiatsu didn't belong to the orange-haired_ king. _Actually, he recognized it to be _Rukia-chan's_. A smirk graced his lips as he made a mental note to destroy the king's... _princess_, maybe?

_Breathe your life into me_

_I can feel you_

_I'm falling, falling faster_

_Breathe your life into me_

_I still need you_

_I'm falling, falling_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

He quickly let go of the young Kurosaki's throat so he wouldn't be influenced by that white reiatsu, although it wasn't really that much, it only clinged to Ichigo's body like a shield. Ichigo fell back, holding his throat as a fit of cough took over him, forcing him to kneel down to try and take a full breath.

He felt like he had been brought back to life, his eyes tried to adjust to the figure in front of him but failed miserably, his hands still shook and his throat ached. His body was left without oxygen for quite some time which made him feel dizzy. He pushed himself to his feet, he still had a fight to finish, a fight to _win_. He glared at the white person before him, blinked a few times but his attempts went in vain as he now looked at the hollow with a hazy vision.

_And this is how it looks when I am standing on the edge_

_And this is how I break apart when I finally hit the ground_

_And this is how it hurts when I pretend I don't feel any pain_

_And this is how I disappear when I throw myself away_

"**Heh, so you're still alive, why don't you give up **_**king?**_** It's all over. You **_**can't**_** win," **the hollow snickered as his mouth twisted into a disgusting smirk. His yellow eyes pierced the orange-haired's hazel ones as they started a glaring contest.

"Not...a...chance," Ichigo panted, leaning on Zangetsu for support. His scowl deepened as his mind struggled to find a way to beat that maniac in front of him. He took a quick glance at the growing mask and found that he had no time to waste. The mask...something clicked in his mind as he took another look at the mask.

The tip of his mouth raised a little, threatening to expose a smirk which made the hollow scowl. "I can beat you and you can't beat me," Ichigo ventured with a huge smirk. In that short amount of time, he was able to think through everything that happened in that fight till now, and with that he found something that could be taken as a weakness.

The young Kurosaki took Zangetsu out of the horizontal building and prepared himself to execute his plan. He only had one chance, it's a do or die plan, and he wasn't intending on messing it up. For the first time since the war, he felt the gray cloud in his mind somewhat clear to show him that there were still people who cared about him. Therefore, he was not going to let them down.

Ichigo gathered all his remaining strength and attacked head on with all of the speed and power he could muster. The hollow prepared himself for the incoming attack, however Ichigo had other plans as he quickly changed his direction to head for the mask instead of the hollow himself.

The voice of the mask cracking pierced the air, as Ichigo suspected a chilling cry was heard afterwards. The orange-haired shinigami pulled his Zanpakutou out of the broken mask to rest its tip back on the ground and lean on it for support.

"**WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" **The hollow screamed in pain as he clutched his face with his hands, hiding it from view, with only his yellow filled with anger irises showing.

"I win," Ichigo whispered. He started to see different colors in front of him and felt himself falling to the ground.

_Breathe your life into me_

_I can feel you_

_I'm falling, falling faster_

_Breathe your life into me_

_I still need you_

_I'm falling, falling_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

However, instead of falling to the ground, he felt himself being held roughly by his stained-with-blood robes and being pulled to face something white with yellow eyes. **"Did you think it's over?" **The hollow hissed, one of his hands was covering his face while the other was gripping the orange-haired shinigami.

Ichigo stared at the yellow eyes with a grin painted on his face. "I thought so for a while, but I guess not," he winced in pain as a chuckle escaped his bloodied lips. That was his last plan and he couldn't think of anything else. He did everything he could and still it was not enough to defeat his other soul.

He thought that by destroying the mask, he would be able to kill the white hollow but it looked like he was wrong. He only thought of it because, he noticed that every time the hollow would attack him, he would return to stand in front of the mask as if protecting it.

Suddenly, he felt something warm running down his abdomen, a wave of pain washed over him as realization dawned on him. He looked down to find the hollow's hand pierced cleanly into his body, blood flowed staining the white hand with a crimson color.

He then looked up to stare at the hollow's face to find a really sickening sight. The hollow's face was shattered into pieces, letting black blood flow out of it. **"That's for damaging my face," **he whispered into Ichigo's ear while removing his hand, leaving the orange-haired man to stumble on his feet and try to stand still.

_Ichigo... _

There, that voice calling him again, he didn't recognize it. When he first heard it, it was like a loud yell that hurt his ears and made him suspect that he would be deaf in no time if he heard it again. But now, it's nothing more than a whisper, a pleading whisper, but whose voice was that?

_Breathe your life into me_

_I can feel you_

_I'm falling, falling faster_

_Breathe your life into me_

_I still need you_

_I'm falling, falling_

_Breathe into me_

Although, the hollow's maniac laughter echoed through the place, Ichigo was still able to hear the soft whisper. Slowly, a figure started to appear before him, the person was wearing the usual shinigami black robes but had the captain's white haori, his back was facing the orange-haired man.

He slowly turned his head to reveal the face of his father, a grin gracing his face. "Live to the fullest, Ichigo," Isshin told him before fading away. That time, two figures appeared and he recognized them to be his late friends.

"What's wrong Kurosaki? I didn't know you to be that weak," Ishida mocked him as he tipped the rim of his glasses.

"Ichigo, remember; we'll always be there for you," Chad assured him while raising his thumb up.

"Kurosaki-kun," the familiar voice of Inoue rang as she too started appearing next to Chad and Ishida, "don't give up, Kurosaki-kun," she smiled sweetly at him before the three friends faded into nothingness.

Ichigo trudged slowly to where they were standing while reaching with his hand, hoping that they were still with him, helping him and giving him hope to keep on living. To him, they were the only true friends he had besides Tatsuki, so it was a big blow to lose them all at once. And with his whole family gone, he had nothing.

Don't make something your everything, they say, because when you lose it, you'll have nothing.

Unknown to Ichigo, the white hollow stopped laughing to stare at his fallen_ king, _a smirk growing on his mouth as the feeling of triumph -so he thought- surged through his every vein. So the little strawberry was hallucinating now.

_Please come back to me... _

The orange-haired shinigami turned around in search for the soft, almost pleading voice that he kept hearing. He wanted to know to whom it belonged. Because every time he would hear it, feelings of comfort and easiness would wash over him.

Another drop of the warm liquid fell on his face, some of it managed to get into his mouth, giving him the access he needed to learn about that strange liquid. It tasted salty and somewhat like water and that confused him all the more.

He blinked a couple of times in attempt to clear his vision and see the new incomer that decided to visit him. A black robe just like the first one appeared before him; however, that one didn't have the white haori on. The back of the figure was facing him but he could manage to see through his hazy vision, a white sword; _a Zanpakutou..._

It was pure white, the hilt, the guard even the metal of the Zanpakutou itself was white. It resembled beauty and at the same time, it held the meaning of the strong personality. The young Kurosaki could only guess that the wielder of that Zanpakutou was a cold person with icy eyes, yet possessed beauty that no one could rival.

The figure before him had short raven hair. The white Zanpakutou was held down as if its wielder had just finished a fight. The person slowly turned to reveal a young woman's face. So young that she seemed to be in middle school. As he predicted, she had icy violet eyes and white smooth skin. But what confused him were the trails on her pale cheeks, making her look as if she was crying.

_Crying..._

Could that strange salty liquid that kept falling on him be..._tears? _

_Ichigo..._

He heard her whisper his name with the same gentle pleading voice. So it's her that would keep on calling him. He knew her, he was positive of it, he had seen her before, been with her, been friends with her, so why couldn't he remember? Was it because, he had resigned to his so called fate or maybe because he had lacked the resolve to even remember the people who cared about him?

He stared at her icy eyes as they slowly changed to hold a gentle look. He could see it in her eyes; the sadness and the desperation and he...hated that look.

_Rukia._

Suddenly, as if he had woken from a dream, Rukia was no longer in front of him. Actually, the one who was standing before him right now was his hollow. **"Finally came back to your senses, eh?" **The chilling voice of the hollow snickered.

Ichigo stood on trembling feet, not from fear but from losing loads of blood. He leaned on his Zanpakutou, trying to come up with another plan. Now, Ichigo was positive that he didn't want to lose and that he's going to win.

Hichigo saw the glint of resolve in the eyes of the orange-haired shinigami re-appearing stronger than before. His smirk fell as realization dawned on him, he's going to lose. It's like the last time when he fought against the strawberry after the Espada came and beat him to a pulp.

"I'm not going to lose to the likes of you," Ichigo gritted his teeth and glared at the white figure. He gathered his strength to pull Zangetsu out of the ground. In a blink of an eye, he was standing behind the white hollow, the tip of the Zanpakutou coming out of Hichigo's abdomen.

"**Damn it... Just when I almost defeated you," **a smirk crept its way over his white lips. And with that, he slowly faded into thin air.

Ichigo panted for air as the feeling of adrenalin started to dissipate. Pain coursed through his wounds, blood drenched his clothes like water. His eye lids became heavier as everything around him turned into black but one thing didn't dare to leave his mind, _Rukia...to think that I still need you._ With a tired smile, he fell.

_Breathe your life into me!_

_I'm falling, falling faster_

_Breathe your life into me!_

_Falling, falling, falling_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

_Breathe into me_

"His pulse is slowing down, Unohana-Taichou!" The panicked Fuku-Taichou informed the 4th division's captain. With a look of concentration, Isane and Unohana used more of their reiatsu in hopes of stopping the bleeding and closing the hole in his chest.

Rukia stared from the door at the sleeping orange-haired man with panicked eyes. Her small frame shook as muffled sobs escaped her mouth. Her cheeks were stained with fallen tears. No, it was happening again, she thought, why every person she even cared about had to get hurt!?

First, Shiba Kaien, who died because of her, the only person who treated her normally when she first came into the 13th division. Then there was her Nii-sama who protected her from Aizen when the Hougyoku was taken, and sustained a heavy injury. Then there's Renji, who almost got killed in his fight against the scientist Espada but thanks to Kurotsuchi Mayuri he was saved.

And now Ichigo, the person who resembled Shiba Kaien so much to the point that she feared he would end up like her dead Fuku-Taichou. She hated to think like that but it was out of her hands now, her eyes couldn't lie to her, couldn't tell her that someone other than her loud-mouth friend was lying in front of her right now.

"Taichou!" Rukia heard Isane's voice calling for her Taichou, her voice held the hint of desperation and frustration.

"We need more reiatsu to close up this wound," Unohana turned to look at the raven-haired woman.

Rukia immediately stepped next to the forth division's captain; a look of determination could be seen amidst the streaming tears. "Tell me what to do," she said without hesitation, her eyes never leaving the young Kurosaki's form.

Unohana smiled softly as she took Rukia's hands and placed them on Ichigo's heart. "Don't let his heart stop beating." Then she turned back to heal the main wound in his chest.

"Please, come back to me," Rukia whispered in his ear as she poured all her reiatsu to keep his heart functioning and never to fail. She wouldn't allow that, not when she's in control.

A few minutes had passed since silence enveloped them, only the sounds of groans coming from the orange-haired man would occasionally cut through it. Every time, Rukia would hear his pained voice, her heart would ache a little more. She hated seeing someone in pain, especially if he was someone she cared about.

A sigh of relief came out from Unohana's mouth as she closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again to give Rukia a reassuring smile. "I think that he passed through the worst. All he needs now is to stay in bed for a few days." With that, she excused herself and left the room with her Fuku-Taichou.

"Look at what you have done to yourself, bakamono." Rukia let a small smile grace her features; a relieved sigh escaped her soft lips. With the back of her hands, she wiped the remaining tears off her face.

She watched him as he breathed heavily through his butchered lungs and hoped that she wouldn't see him like that ever again. Slowly, her hand found its way to his face, exploring every part of it, starting from his lips and all the way up to his hair.

She stroked his orange hair gently with a smile on her face and noticed his eyes moving a little. Ichigo's eyes slowly cracked open to look at the raven-haired woman sitting next to him. "Hey," he tried to tell her but his voice cracked and came out as a low whisper.

He gave her a small smile to lighten her up a little after noticing that she had been crying for a while. "You idiot," she whispered, bowing her head so she wouldn't have to look at his eyes. She felt vulnerable at that moment and she didn't want him to see her in that kind of state.

She had to be strong, after all everyone was used to her being strong to be able to carry her burdens and others too and she was not going to let them think otherwise especially him. By his eyes only, she could tell that he had it rough.

His fight against his inner hollow wasn't easy and it's not going to be easy in the future so she had to be strong for him so he would be able to count on her. She told him once that she didn't want to be protected by him and that she wanted to stand next to him and not behind him. Therefore, she had to be strong, for him to believe that she didn't need his protection anymore, not that she asked for it in the first place.

She raised her head to look at him again when she noticed that he didn't give up on smiling that silly smile of his after hearing her calling him an idiot. Instead, he looked at her with gentle eyes "Well...considering what I've been through, I don't think that this is how you greet someone who was going to die, midget," he whispered to her confidently.

Rukia's eyes widened at first as she realized what he had dared to call her with. Her eyes burnt with rage, she placed a finger on his chest and pressed against it making him wince in pain. "For your information, I'm NOT a midget, moron."

"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo complained, trying to raise his voice a little but failing due to his wounds and blood loss. He started breathing heavily after his outburst and coughed violently.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Rukia asked him, concerned for her friend's well-being. When he didn't answer her, she decided to try and use her Kidou to stop the coughing fit that got hold of him. The minute she started using it, the coughing started to lessen until only the sound of Ichigo's panting could be heard through the room.

"Thanks," he told her. Closing his eyes to rest for a while, he enjoyed the feeling of her steady reiatsu flowing through his body. It gave him a feeling of comfort and easiness, like everything was going to be fine.

He felt at ease when he's around her and couldn't explain why. It's like she's the only person who could understand him in the whole world. She had the ability to read his feelings like an open book; he couldn't hide anything from her. Therefore, there were no secrets between the two of them. They worked together perfectly.

Soon after she started using her Kidou, she heard the sound of his even breathing which told her that he'd fallen asleep. She sighed as she started to stand up and head for the door, with one final look; she walked out of the room.

"Renji!" Rukia was surprised to find the red-haired shinigami standing next to Urahara, "what are you doing here?" She asked him, after all, he did say that he's going to be at Ichigo's house to take a rest but knowing Renji, a rest would take more than an hour and it hadn't been an hour since he and the others went to the Kurosaki's residence.

"Hey, is that how you greet your friend." It sounded as a statement more than a question as he gave her a huge grin. She sighed as she made her way to sit at the table and closed her eyes for a minute. She was tired and needed to take a rest.

After everything that had happened, her body felt heavy. All the stress and worry were taking their toll on her body and now after everything had calmed down, she was starting to feel the effects. "Didn't you say that you were going to Ichigo's house?" She asked him again wanting to know the reason behind his appearance.

"I was talking to Urahara about what had happened earlier." His tone took a turn to seriousness, his eyes locked on her petite form, "you remember why we are here, don't you?" He asked her, while narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, I do," she retorted as she glared at him, "what are you getting at, Renji?" Her icy violet eyes pierced his own eyes, waiting for him to explain himself.

"Rukia, he's transforming--" the red-haired shinigami was cut off by the raven-haired woman whose hands hit the table in front of her hard.

"He's not! He won his inner battle, Renji!" She glared at him with all her might.

"You saw how--"

"I only saw how he was able to win, besides, how did you know about that?" She narrowed her eyes, waiting for his reply.

"Urahara told me everything," he stated simply without flinching under her intense glare.

Rukia sighed. "What do you want Renji? You can't possibly have come here only to fight with me?" She looked at him incredulously.

"No, I'm here to make sure that you get some rest and to check on that strawberry," he smirked at her shocked expression, "how's he now, Unohana-Taichou?" He turned his attention to the sitting Taichou and waited for her to reply.

"He's doing good now, although I'm not really sure what had caused that black hole, normally, it wouldn't have come down to this," she informed them, as she studied their expressions. Rukia and Renji looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something until Renji decided to break the silence.

"Uh...it's nothing really...just a really strong hollow I think," he stuttered to find the right words.

Nor he or Rukia wanted to expose their friend's dark side, his _hollow_ side, especially to a Taichou. As it's known in Seireitei that obtaining the hollow powers were considered to be a taboo. And if any Taichou was to know about that, they knew that it wouldn't be something good.

-

To be continued...

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I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter. (R&R)

**~KWF~**


	6. Falling For You

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**-**

_A/N: I'm really sorry for the long wait. Anyway, enjoy this chapter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach._

**Chapter six**

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Two days had passed since that horrible incident, since Rukia thought that she almost lost Ichigo forever. Things hadn't been looking up to her since she came to the living world again. And now she's sitting in the Kurosaki's household after being forced to go and sleep a little.

She was sitting in Ichigo's room on his bed; both of her knees were propped up to brace her arms. Looking outside into the starless black sky, she was staring at nothing in particular with a distant look in her once vivid orbs.

The conversation she and Renji had with Unohana-Taichou still rang clearly in her tired mind_._

"_It's none of my business but if you keep covering up for him, you two including him will suffer bad consequences," the forth division's captain eyed them as she made a move to stand up from her sitting position._

"_How did you know?" Rukia asked her, her voice barely coming out as a whisper. She was too shocked to hide how she really felt at that moment. The feel of fear bit her hard as she tried to hold herself together. _

"_I don't know the exact details and nor am I going to ask you, but please tell him to be cautious. This is a very serious crime and if he was to be discovered, he would receive severe punishment," the healer said with a gentle voice as she looked straight into Rukia's eyes._

"_Why are you telling me this?" The Kuchiki shinigami asked cautiously, her gaze never leaving the shinigami in white haori in front of her, "I'ts not logical for you; a captain to say this," Rukia added with a polite tone._

"_I told you that it's not my place to say anything. I was told to come and heal an injured shinigami, now that I'm done, I'll be returning back. I'll leave the matters to you and I'm sure that you'll do fine." She gave her a soft smile then turned to the red-haired shinigami and back to Rukia, "however, I'll have to report that the enemy is strong to the point that the substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't kill him and was defeated by him," she said then smiled at them again. With that, she gestured to Isane to follow her._

_The forth division's Fuku-Taichou followed her Taichou quickly out of the shoten and opened the Senkai gate. Two black hell-butterflies flew out of the whiteness to soar around the two shinigami. They entered through the gate and disappeared into the white nothingness. _

"Rukia," Renji entered the room and called for her attention, a worried look etched on his face, "it's our turn now," he informed her with a gentle tone and soft eyes that were filled with sympathy and pity.

The raven-haired girl looked up to meet his gaze with her icy violet eyes. "I'll be right with you," she told him then turned her gaze back to the black sheet of sky. Renji took that as his cue to leave, he turned to the door.

"It's not your fault, you know," he added before leaving the distant shinigami alone.

"How is it not my fault, when I left him alone in such state," she whispered to herself with a bitter edge then sighed heavily as she slowly slid off the bed and got out of her gigai. It's her turn and Renji's to do some patrolling in the town, in order to check any abnormally high reiatsu.

After all, that's the purpose of them coming to the living world; to check the Arrancar's strange activities and that's when they found the orange-haired shinigami lying on the ground alone and......_bleeding._ Rukia shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts.

She knew that she would be distracted if those thoughts kept hunting her while doing her job. She went downstairs and was met by Rangiku who pulled her quickly by her hand into the living room. "Rukia, there is a change in plans, go get your gigai and come down quickly," Rangiku squealed in delight.

"What do you mean?" The raven-haired shinigami eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Hisagi accepted to do the patrolling with Renji tonight," the strawberry-haired woman told her happily.

"There's no need for that, I'll do it tonight," Rukia said as she turned towards the door but was stopped by a firm grip holding her by her forearm.

"Rukia, you won't be doing any patrolling tonight," Renji told her strictly while furrowing his eyebrows, "you are in no condition to do so."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked him incredulously, already feeling her temper boiling, "you told me that it's our turn tonight."

"Well, that's what I thought until they told me about the changes." Renji rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face.

"You know what he means, Kuchiki," Hisagi decided to interfere as he noticed that Rukia would try to protest further more and he didn't want to waste time there, in an attempt of convincing her to change her mind.

"I'm fine!" Rukia breathed exasperatedly, feeling that she would blow up at any minute and shout at them to leave her the hell alone. Why did they interfere in things that they didn't understand? Couldn't they mind their own business?!

"Rukia," the cold tone her name was called with didn't escape her attention. She knew that voice, she could recognize it anywhere, anytime, and at that moment she knew that it belonged to the elder Kuchiki, her supposed brother.

"Nii-sama," she addressed him politely as she shifted her eyes to look at his sitting form on the couch. And what brought her attention was the fact that he's in a gigai too. "With all due respect, what are you doing in the living world?" She tried to sound as much as polite as possible.

"It was brought to Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou that Kurosaki was defeated so I was ordered to come and help exterminate the enemy," the stoic Kuchiki replied in his calm and steady tone, "Rukia, Hisagi will go with Renji and that's final." He stared at her wide violet orbs, waiting for her to say anything but was rewarded by silence.

"Hai, nii-sama." She bowed her head in defeat, "I'll be going now if you'll excuse me," she added. After, seeing Byakuya nodding, she started making her way upstairs to get into her gigai. When she got into the gigai, she continued to sit on the same spot she was sitting on earlier with elbows braced on her knees.

Staring back at the pitch black sky, she felt so lonely. Now that the only distraction she had was snatched away from her, she was left with only her thoughts to accompany her. A few seconds passed until she heard a rustle coming from the closet, _her _closet.

The door opened to reveal a yellow lion with a pained look on his face. "Where is Ichigo?" Kon asked Rukia with eyes full of regret.

The young Kuchiki stared at the little plush for a few seconds before replying, "He's out."

"Where?" Kon insisted, his gaze never leaving Rukia's.

"He went to fight and got injured badly so he's now at Urahara's," she answered then returned her gaze back to look at the starless sky with uninterested eyes. Kon's face showed surprise but was quickly wiped off his face.

"Serves him right for yelling at me," he muttered under his breath though he was really worried and knew that Ichigo had all the right to yell at him. He jumped out of the closet and walked towards Ichigo's bed to sit next to Rukia.

"Is he okay?" His voice betrayed concern which caused Rukia's lip to curve slightly into a smile.

"You are worried about him, aren't you?" She teased him in a playful voice and was rewarded with a scowl and protests of denial.

After awhile, she decided to save him the teasing. "Yeah, he's fine," she sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands. Her head hurt her from all the thinking she'd done through the last two days, never mind the fact that she lacked the proper amount of sleep.

Throughout the whole past nights, she didn't get a shred of sleep because of the continuous thoughts that kept plugging her. Every one of them was about the orange-haired man and what her life would be if he were to die in that dreadful night.

Before she realized what was happening, she felt herself fall into sleep, into a dreamless slumber. The last thing she could recall was the refreshing scent she smelled when her head slammed against the pillow.

Just when she fell asleep, Rangiku cracked the door open and popped her head to peer at the lying figure of her friend, sleeping soundlessly on the orange-haired man's bed.

She smiled softly and called the little yellow lion to come to the living room and leave the sleeping girl alone. Kon complied without protesting and followed the strawberry-haired shinigami but before closing the door, he took one last glance at his nee-san to make sure that everything was fine then left the young Kuchiki sleeping in the comfortable bed.

"She's sleeping now, Kuchiki-Taichou," Rangiku informed Byakuya as she bowed politely before leaving to attend to her own business which was; go take a long hot bath.

"Very well," he replied then turned towards the white-haired captain seated across of him, "what are your plans, Hitsugaya-Taichou?" He asked him.

"We will work in teams, each team is of two. Observing would be our best option as we don't know anything about the enemy," Hitsugaya explained what he had in mind for that mission.

"What about Kurosaki?" The sixth division's captain suggested without making an eye contact with the young prodigy before him, "he fought against the Arrancar and he should know him better than any of us," he added.

"Right, we have to ask him about that when he wakes up," Hitsugaya agreed, already feeling excited about the thought of them returning back to Soul Society. Matsumoto was already starting to drive him crazy and it hadn't been a full week yet.

-

"Did you find anything interesting, Abarai?" Hisagi asked in a bored tone while looking around him for anything that seemed suspicious. "Abarai?" When he got no response, he looked around him but found no trace of the red-haired shinigami, "that's strange," he mumbled.

"Abarai!" The 69 tattooed man yelled again in hope that Renji would answer him but again he received no answer. Hisagi started getting a little worried over the sudden disappearance of the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou. "You better not be playing some kind of a game!" He warned.

Hisagi wandered around the place for a while then jumped onto a high building. He stood on the roof and scanned the area around him for any trace that would lead him to the red-haired idiot. With the corner of his eye, he caught something red moving not too far from where he's standing. He quickly shunpo-ed towards the red object. The minute he landed next to it, he started yelling at it. "What the hell do you think you're.....doing?" Hisagi trailed off as he stared at his friend's panicked face, "what's wrong with you?" He asked cautiously.

Renji who was on the ground motioned with his hand for the irritated shinigami to look in front of him. "I think we've found what we are looking for." He swallowed hard while getting up and putting his hand on his Zanpakutou ready to draw it at any minute. The ninth division's Fuku-Taichou quickly followed suit.

"I guess there's no need in asking Kurosaki now," he smirked at the red-haired man, not taking his eyes off the Arrancar before him.

"No kidding," Renji retorted with a smirk of his own, "let's give him hell he'll never forget," he added before attacking the dark Arrancar head on.

"You bet." With that Hisagi too attacked the Arrancar. The two shinigami clashed with the silent man.

"Who are you?" Renji hissed and pushed harder against the Arrancar.

"You can call me, Miedo Espantapájaros." The Arrancar who called himself Miedo smirked as he started pushing the two shinigami back making them fall back to land on their feet. The two noticed that he was only using one of his hands against them while the other remained stuffed deep into his pocket. Renji swallowed hard and decided to use his Bankai. He couldn't fight and win against him while he's in such a low level. Heck, he even doubted that he would be able to win, if he used his Bankai.

Without thinking of anything else, he suddenly shouted, "Bankai!"

A cloud of dust covered the area next to Hisagi until a large thing like snake appeared, making itself known with an ear-piercing roar. "Hihiou Zabimaru," Renji called out hoarsely. His eyes narrowing to glare at the calm figure before him, the large skeleton snake of a Bankai twirled itself around him in a protective manner.

"Hisagi, I think you should go and tell the others about...._this_," Renji told him, seriousness evident in his voice and face.

"What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?!" Hisagi shouted at the red-haired man whom looked un-fazed by the other shinigami's sudden outburst and spoke calmly.

"I can hold him for a while, while you go and fetch the others. This is the only way," he smirked as he turned his head slightly to look at the 69-tattooed man, "besides, I have a Bankai and you don't and I'm not weak like the strawberry."

Left speechless, Hisagi didn't have anything else to say but to go and get help from the others. So he nodded and quickly shunpo-ed away to the Kurosaki's household. Truth to be said, he didn't want to leave his comrade behind. He wanted to fight side by side with him against that strong Arrancar.

A feeling sat at the pit of his stomach, an unsettling feeling that warned him that something wrong would happen. But, he had to ignore it for a while and get the others quickly to help with the fight that's going on behind him.

He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists as he increased his speed and step-flashed with a speed he didn't realize he possessed.

Renji watched as his friend left and turned to the Arrancar whom called himself Miedo, surveying him to try and figure out some of his weaknesses. But he quickly slapped himself mentally as he remembered the Arrancar war and how hard it was.

So he ignored the thought of observing the enemy and decided to follow his old way, the attack head on way. "I'll make you pay for making Rukia cry," Renji hissed angrily, swinging the large skeleton snake at the smiling Arrancar.

"I don't remember fighting any Rukia," Miedo replied, his voice painted with a hint of confusion. But his face betrayed nothing as it remained neutral. One hand in his pocket, he used his other hand to block Zabimaru's attack, making it seem like a child's play that's not worth his time.

The tattooed shinigami gritted his teeth and pulled Zabimaru back. "You are the reason!"

-

The room's dim light explained a presence in the room. A man sleeping silently on the mattress located on the ground. His eyes slowly opened to reveal a color of pale hazel. He groaned as he shifted to support himself on his elbows.

Looking around him frantically, he remembered the reason that brought him to that room, to _that place_. That was the place where everything had begun, where a lot of bad things had started. His memories nagged the front of his mind and called him to remember how everything came to be.

He came there to ask for help from the former 12 division's captain, to grant him access to the land of the hollows, to Hueco Mundo. If he hadn't gone to that place maybe nothing of that would've happened, but it's too late to regret.

He's the one who chose to go after Inoue even after the Sou-Taichou himself ordered him not to go there. So if anyone would be blamed it would be him. He left his family unprotected and went after his desire, his desire to _fight._

He clenched his fists and bowed his head in shame. He was too ashamed of himself to raise his head. Out of frustration, he slammed his fist against the innocent mattress. After a moment, he regretted doing that as he felt pain stinging his chest.

Ichigo's head quickly rose, with both of his eyes wide open. He felt a pulse of reiatsu and it felt somewhat familiar. He was never good at sensing reiatsu, but that one proved to be quite strong for him to be able to sense. Actually he could sense two, one of them felt stronger than the other but it also had the hint that it's being suppressed.

The other one felt like someone he knew, someone he always bickered with when he was around, _Renji's. _The orange-haired shinigami fought with his body to stand up, when he finally won and stood on his feet, he felt kind of dizzy and his vision looked hazy.

He held his head for a moment until he made sure that the room around him stopped spinning and scanned the room for his Zanpakutou. There, resting against the wall his Zanpakutou laid waiting for its owner to come and claim him and that's what Ichigo did.

He quickly grabbed Zangetsu and was about to get out through the window when he felt cold. He looked at his body to find that he's only wearing his Hakama. He muttered a series of curses under his breath about how stupid he was.

The young Kurosaki was able to find his torn and bloody haori. He quickly put it on and was about to jump out of the window when he looked back at the door inside the room and whispered, "thank you, Urahara-san." With that he jumped out and quickly started using shunpo to get to the two sources of reiatsu.

With each shunpo he made, he felt more tired. He knew that he shouldn't be going around for a while but when did he ever listen to the voice of reason? He chuckled slightly as the thought of Rukia crossed his mind.

She would be yelling at him with her high-pitched voice if she saw him. His face softened a little, remembering her gave him a feeling of easiness and comfort. Ichigo realized that he really missed her even if she hadn't been gone for too long. Just the feeling of her presence filled him with happiness, gave him the ability to smile again.

His thoughts were cut short, when he saw smoke produced by a large explosion in the distance. He increased his speed and hoped that whatever was going on wasn't something bad. But when did his hopes ever come true?

There, in a large hole created in the ground, lay the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou.

"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed and went to check if he's still alive. He started to feel fear well up in his heart. He didn't want to see one of his friends -and yes he considered Abarai Renji to be his friend- die in front of his eyes. He didn't think that he could bear watching that happen again.

Steadily, he approached the bloody body and knelt beside it. With his hand shaking, he reached to feel if he's still alive – as much as a shinigami can be -.

Renji let out a groan and that's the only thing Ichigo needed to feel relief. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and tried to wake the man up. "Hey Renji, wake up! What happened to you?! Renji!" He shook him in attempt of waking him up but unfortunately failed.

The only reaction he received was groans coming from the red-haired man so he gave up on waking him.

"We meet again Kurosaki Ichigo." That voice, it's familiar. Ichigo slowly turned his head to look at the person who addressed him.

"You," he hissed, a ting of hatred echoed off that one word. The orange-haired Vizard stood up from his kneeling position to completely face the unwanted visitor.

"What are you doing here? You defeated me, so what the hell do you want now?!" Ichigo's voice started to rise with every word he spoke as he was experiencing a lot of emotions right now. Anger and frustration? Maybe.... he couldn't quite explain what he was feeling.

"I have come to fight you again but this time I'll make you fight at your full power," Miedo smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was standing in midair above the crater he made out of the red-haired shinigami.

"And how are you going to do that?!" Ichigo chuckled, disgusted by the fact that the Arrancar claimed to be able to force him to use his full power.

"I'm giving you one month. After that, I'll come again but when I leave I'll be taking what's most precious to you. So if you care so much about _her_, you'll have to fight me to take her back," the dark Arrancar spoke calmly, a smirk painting his face as he moved his index finger to emphasize his point.

"Why you...?" Ichigo's reaction as the Arrancar anticipated was panic mixed with anger and fear. And that's how his predictions were true, so the Kurosaki boy cared about that little shinigami he saw. If it hadn't been for his curiosity to wait and watch for the orange-haired boy to try and save himself, he wouldn't have seen how she gently stroked his wild hair while trying to heal him with her Kidou.

And now he's going to use that little event in his own favor. He had just found out the weakness of the so-called great Kurosaki Ichigo.

"One month shinigami," Miedo emphasized as he knocked on the sky to open a pathway back to Hueco Mundo.

Ichigo couldn't do anything. He fell on his knees and closed his eyes tightly slamming his fists against the hard rock until his knuckles started bleeding.

"Abarai!" He heard a voice in the distance calling. And soon after, the voice was followed with its owner.

"Kurosaki? What are you doing here?" Hitsugaya questioned the orange-haired shinigami whom just looked away from him, too ashamed to look at the 10th division's captain in the eye. The white-haired captain didn't press any further until he saw a glimpse of red resting on the ground.

"What happened here?" Toshirou quickly ran past Ichigo to take a better look at the red-haired man. "Kurosaki!"

"Taichou!" Thanks to the arrival of the others, Ichigo was saved the trouble of answering. As soon as Matsumoto saw Renji on the ground, she gasped and quickly called for the others to increase their pace and help carry the injured shinigami back to the Kurosaki's clinic.

Ichigo had left to return to his home before the others would start questioning him about what occurred in that place. Alone, he had time to think about everything....

_One month, huh? _

He landed on a rooftop and stared up to find the moon staring back at him. It looked quite lovely and shiny, its light never seemed to fade, and it reminded him of someone.

_Rukia..._

He shook his head violently and scolded himself mentally, now he's starting to compare her to the silver moon and think that she looked lovely, the next thing he should do was go kis--- _What the hell?! Where did that come from?! Could I be falling for her?_

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. It's true that she's an extraordinary woman and that he cared about her _a lot_ but that didn't explain the sudden rush of thoughts, maybe he had hit his head too hard that it affected his way of thinking?

Ichigo decided to leave it at that and save it for a later time to think about. All he's asking for was: go to his house and sleep in his bed. He jumped off the rooftop and continued his way to the Kurosaki's clinic.

He could almost see his window so he used shunpo and in less than a minute he found himself standing in front of his window. He slowly opened the window and hopped into his room. He didn't notice the person sleeping in his bed. And so he left to go to the bathroom and wash up.

Once he opened the door to the bathroom, he almost jumped out of his skin and caused his wound to open up again. His human body fell on him with a note stuck on the shirt. It read:

_To Kurosaki Ichigo_

_Why did you leave, Kurosaki-san? Didn't you like your stay? Anyway, this is a gift from me....your body!_

_And please try to be more careful in the future and that also concerns your human body._

_PS: if this really scares you then you really lack the sense of humor._

_Urahara Kisuke ^_^_

Ichigo crumbled the note and threw it into the garbage can in the bathroom while muttering curses under his breath. After entering his body in peace, he decided to take a quick shower then head to bed.

The water was cold so he didn't take his time and quickly finished up and pulled two towels; one covering his head while the other was wrapped around his waist. Before leaving, he made sure to grab the first aid-kit located in the bathroom to change his stained-with-blood bandages.

He exited the bathroom and opened the door to his room then shut it creating a little noise. The moment he walked into the room, he heard someone groaning. He stopped in his place and didn't dare to move when he noticed that Rukia's petite form was sleeping in _his _bed.

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To be continued....

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Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think of this....Is it worth continuing? Plz (R&R)!

**~KWF~**


	7. Bleeding Love

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

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_A/N: I don't own Bleach. Really sorry for the wait, so....anyway, enjoy this chapter and many thanks for those who reviewed._

**Chapter seven**

* * *

Frozen in his place, Ichigo didn't know what to do. Sure, he wanted to get dressed and all but he was too caught up in staring at her angelic features to think about that at the moment. He realized that he had never seen her sleeping before so looking at her now felt like looking at a totally different person.

She looked so peaceful, far from the way she seemed to be when she's awake. Her eyebrows were relaxed and her hair fell nicely on her face framing it and making her look all the more beautiful. Ichigo was mesmerized by the fact that he had known that person for too long and never had the chance to witness such beauty.

He swallowed hard and blinked rapidly to get his mind off her petite form. With a final shake of his head, he slowly walked towards his closet to pick a pair of pants and wear them before she woke up and saw him like that. Now that would be too embarrassing.

Making sure not to create any noise, he slipped into the pants he picked and went back into the subject he so much wanted to think about...._Rukia. _He slowly sat at the edge of his bed and shifted his eyes to stare at the angel sleeping beside him.

He was certain that he didn't want to miss looking at her while sleeping, even if he had to struggle with his body not to fall asleep all the night. He was going to enjoy every moment he spent with her even if she wasn't exactly conscious.

After what that Arrancar had said, he was sure that he didn't want to let her out of his sight, not even for a moment. He wouldn't let that bastard lay a finger on her even if it cost him his life or his soul. If it was called for, he's willing to sacrifice his well being to his hollow, just to make sure that she wouldn't be taken by _him._

Ichigo sighed heavily and ran his hand through his damp hair making some beads of water fall on Rukia's face. The orange-haired Shinigami didn't notice that he caused Rukia to stir a little from her dreamless sleep and so he continued thinking about that conversation he just had.

The raven-haired woman cracked her eyes open while furrowing her eyebrows. The light stung her violet orbs like cold water so she moved her hands in attempt to shield them from the source of her annoyance.

When she felt that her eyes finally adjusted to the room's light, she removed her hands so she could look at her surroundings. At first, she was confused and lost but then she remembered that she fell asleep in Ichigo's bed. She sighed loudly and rubbed her temple.

The young Kurosaki's body stiffened when he heard a sigh coming from the figure lying beside him. His head slowly turned with both of his eyes wide open to determine if he was starting to hear things, but to his dismay, he wasn't.

His pale hazel eyes locked with her vivid violet ones. A sweat drop trailed down his forehead as he started stuttering then remembered the first aid-kit, so he quickly jumped on his feet and reached for the white box placed on his desk.

Holding it with one hand, he scratched his head nervously with a sheepish smile drawn on his face. "I-I....um...can you help with the b-bandages?" Ichigo's face was a sign of embarrassment and nervousness which made Rukia blink. A light shade of red tainted his cheeks and to his bad luck Rukia noticed it and smirked.

However, her smirk was quickly wiped off her face when she noticed that the orange-haired man was half naked. Her cheeks turned a dark shade of red as she tried to look anywhere but at his body. His muscles decorated his well toned chest and with his damp bright hair, he looked all the more attractive.

Now she wasn't the one smirking anymore as Ichigo noticed her blush creeping on her cheeks. He felt a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips but when he saw her looking at him again, he felt his face heating up.

"S-sure," Rukia replied then gestured for him to come and sit in front of her on the bed. No one spoke as the raven-haired woman worked on bandaging the wounds covering Ichigo's body. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her little pretty face. A small smile made its way to Ichigo's face as he watched Rukia's eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she looked so adorable.

Little did he know, he found himself looking at her lips. They seemed to be calling for him and so he complied. Slowly, he started leaning towards her until his face was inches away from hers. Rukia's heart started beating faster when she saw the look in Ichigo's eyes. She flushed a bright color of red when she noticed the awkward position they were in but couldn't do anything but swallow hard and say his name, "I-Ichigo?"

"Yes?" He didn't know what he was doing until he felt something soft and delicious touch his lips. He leaned further to taste it and found that it felt like strawberry. He pulled her closer by slipping one of his hands behind her neck while the other rested behind her back.

Rukia was startled when she felt a pair of lips touching hers. They felt good and nice but she was surprised that Ichigo was kissing her. She wanted to tell him that what they were doing was wrong but couldn't find the courage to push him away or yell at him. All she wanted to do at that moment was melt in his kiss.

Strong arms wrapped around her petite form so she decided to deepen the kiss more. She placed her hands around his neck and pulled him closer to her to the point that their bodies were touching now. His chest's warm skin touched her neck and forced a moan to escape from her lips unknowingly.

He smiled a little and let his tongue caress her strawberry flavored lips to allow him access. He heard Rukia's soft giggles and felt his heart beating violently against his chest. He felt her parting her lips a little to let the little dance between their tongues begin.

A second later, Rukia felt herself being pushed away by two strong hands grabbing her shoulders. She looked at Ichigo questioningly and saw pools of sadness and regret in his hazel eyes. Upon noticing that he wasn't looking at her, she decided to know what's bothering him.

"Ichigo?" She asked, her voice tainted by uncertainty.

"Don't! Rukia... I shouldn't be doing this to you," Ichigo calmly spoke; his voice was barely a hear-able whisper. He felt a heavy burden sitting on his chest, like he made the wrong decision. But he was sure that what he decided was for the best.

"I'm sorry, Rukia," he whispered softly avoiding to look at her straight in the eyes. His voice was broken and held nothing but hurt and frustration.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Rukia's voice rose with every word she spoke. What she felt right now was something beyond anger, she was irritated and her hand etched to hit the moron before her, "you go on kissing me then say that it's wrong!?" She yelled at him while standing up, all the while Ichigo avoided to look at her, "look at me!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry," the orange-haired man whispered one last time before standing up and grabbing his shirt from the closet. Before their fight could progress any further, the room's door slammed open to reveal a panting-Rangiku with panicked eyes.

"Rukia, come quickly!" She ordered her then disappeared before hearing a reply from the raven-haired woman.

Rukia looked over at Ichigo. "I never thought of you to be the giving-up type, Ichigo. What a shame really," she muttered under her breath then turned to leave but stopped, "you know, it's never wise to kiss a girl then push her away, because you'll end getting slapped or beaten up," she said softly before hurrying downstairs to see what the commotion was all about. She felt terrible, beyond terrible, rejected. She knew that she wasn't supposed to feel that kind of feelings, she's a Kuchiki for crying out loud.

She's supposed to feel nothing of that silly human emotions, yet that orange-haired boy managed to make her feel, managed to crumble her Kuchiki mask that she always wore to prevent her feelings from surfacing but now after that he succeeded in making her wear it again.

She chuckled disgustingly as her feet slammed against the stairs, she could never understand how the humans felt or thought. And now, her theory about not understanding them had been proved before her. After finally entering the living room, she found a guy with a patch of red hair lying on the floor.

_Renji..._

Then quickly hurried to his side. "What Happened?" She demanded impatiently, looking over at Hisagi whom bowed his head in shame.

"He confronted the enemy and was no match for him," he explained to her.

"Dammit," Rukia cursed under her breath as she engaged in healing Renji. He was hurt badly; he suffered from broken bones and sever wounds. But what made her feel a little at ease was the fact that he didn't lose a lot of blood like a certain idiot she did not wish to remember at the moment.

* * *

Ichigo's heart ached from the pain he's experiencing. He desired to cry his pain out but he held it in just like he always did. He sat at the edge of his bed complementing what he had done. It was foolish of him to give in to his desire to kiss her and hold her. But once he focused on what he was doing, he quickly stopped it from getting any further.

Sure he cared about her _a lot_, and he would finally admit to himself but not to _her _that he loved her with every bit of his heart. And that's exactly the reason why he stopped himself; he realized that if that kept on going, he would be putting her in danger. That Arrancar warned him that he would come for her after one month. Therefore, he had to protect her and prevent her from being too involved with him.

It was a really painful decision for him but he had to make it, he's going to make her hate him; detest him with all her heart so that she would go back to Soul Society. He knew that he wouldn't be able to live for long without her, he couldn't imagine his life without her standing next to him, but if it meant to keep her away from the claws of danger, he's willing to sacrifice his life for that one purpose.

"Kurosaki, Kuchiki-Taichou wants to talk to you about the Arrancar," the tattooed-69 shinigami informed Ichigo with a stern voice.

Ichigo sighed. "Fine." He trudged passed Hisagi whom was standing by the door, leaning slightly against it.

Hisagi followed Ichigo with critical eyes then started to walk after him. They both walked silently neither saying anything until Ichigo decided to break the uncomfortable silence "What does Byakuya want from me?" He asked with a hollow tone.

The ninth division's Fuku-Taichou shrugged in response. "You'll know when you see him."

The orange-haired man sighed in annoyance but kept his mouth shut nonetheless. Finally, after arriving to where the group of Soul Society's shinigami was gathered, he took note of Rukia's presence the minute he stepped into the living room. She was kneeling beside the red-haired shinigami, healing him with her Kidou.

"Kurosaki." Ichigo's head snapped quickly towards the person whom called his name. Kuchiki Byakuya was standing not too far away from his raven-haired adopted sister. Rukia didn't even flinch when she heard Ichigo's name, sure it hurt her to remember what happened minutes ago. But she finally realized that she couldn't actually blame him. He's got a life to live while she's dead. So if there were to be a relationship between them, it would be a forbidden one. Therefore, it's better to stop anything from happening than to front the consequences.

"What do you want from me _Byakuya_?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow cockily when he saw a vein popping on the Kuchiki's forehead.

Byakuya closed his eyes for a minute to calm his urge to kill that insolent brat before him. "What do you know about the Arrancar who attacked Abarai?" He asked, keeping his voice hollow from any kind of emotion.

"I bet that you know more than I do, thanks to the 12th division." Ichigo's eyes betrayed nothing and showed impassiveness which surprised the stoic captain. Somewhere deep within Kuchiki Byakuya's mind, he felt sorry for the man before him. But he didn't show it at all.

"Kurosaki, I will not repeat myself again, tell us what you know about the enemy," the sixth division's captain threatened. Ok, so he felt sorry for the young man but that didn't mean that he would let him say whatever he wanted.

"His name is Miedo Espantapájaros. He's really strong and he has only one objective," Ichigo replied, the last few words came out as a whisper which caught Rukia's attention and made her glance at the idiot Kurosaki before returning back to healing her childhood friend.

"And what would his objective be?" The sixth division's Taichou asked cautiously, his eyes narrowing at the man before him.

Ichigo couldn't look at Byakuya, he was so afraid that he might let some of his newly developed emotions be seen by someone like Rukia's brother. Instead, he settled on staring at Rukia as she used her Kidou magic in a fascinating way he had never been conscious to see before.

"Kurosaki," the Kuchiki shinigami inquired, waiting patiently for the substitute shinigami in front of him to answer.

"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with Soul Society or the world's demise," Ichigo assured him then glanced at the raven-haired woman for one last time before giving his full attention to Byakuya.

Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed a little as he noticed the orange-haired man's constant glances at his wife's sister. "Very well then," with that said he turned to sit on the couch and wait until Renji awoke to give him a full report about the enemy.

Ichigo turned his attention to Rukia whom kept ignoring his presence even when he towered over her small frame. "What happened?" He asked softly as if trying to make sure that no one would be able to hear their little conversation.

"He got attacked by the same Arrancar," she retorted quickly so as not to hear him talk again. It hurt way too much which amused her.

Ichigo's eyes softened a little when he noted her efforts to keep herself from making any type of conversation with him and he was happy but at the same time sad. He wanted her to go back to Soul Society to keep her out of harm's way but he didn't think that by doing that he would be losing her friendship and maybe more forever.

"Rukia....I---" he stumbled on his own words unable to tell her anything.

"What is it that you want to say?" She asked him impatiently still not looking at him or even at his direction for that matter.

"I'm sorry," he whispered gently into her ear.

Her body stiffened when his hot breath tickled her skin. What was he doing so close to her like that? She wanted to punch him but she couldn't bring herself to do so, therefore, she settled into wearing the famous Kuchiki mask and pay him no attention.

"Apology accepted. Is there anything you need from me?" The young Kurosaki remembered that tone all too much. That was how she talked to him when he first met her in his room; an all high and mighty tone and it agitated him to no end.

"Why are you acting like this?" He asked harshly after getting annoyed from her attitude.

"Excuse me?" She turned to face him for the first time since their little fight in his room. A look of pure irritation and shock painted her violet eyes.

"You heard me, Rukia," Ichigo deadpanned. His eyes piercing through hers as he stared at her intently, waiting for her response. To say the truth, he was half scared of what she would tell him and half wanting to know what she had to say.

"Why am I acting like this, you ask?" Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, "maybe you really are an idiot after all." She sighed then turned her face away from him.

The orange-haired shinigami's eyebrow twitched slightly in irritation. "Look, I didn't know what got into me earlier so why don't you just forget it!" He yelled loudly causing her body to stiffen. Everyone in the room stared at the two in confusion.

Ichigo regretted what he said and wished to take back whatever nonsense came out of his big mouth. He didn't want to forget their first kiss in his room. As a matter of a fact, he would cherish it and always remember it so that it would always remind him about a certain someone he truly loved.

"I'm sor--" before he got the chance to apologize for his earlier outburst, Rukia's voice interrupted him.

"No, you're right, we should forget about everything." Her voice cracked a little as she said the last part, "I need some air." Then she quickly left as fast as she could, away from the others' wondering stares.

"Rukia, wait!" The young Kurosaki wanted to follow her but was stopped by Byakuya whom ordered him to leave his adopted sister alone. And for the first time, to Byakuya's delight, Ichigo complied and stopped himself from running after her.

"I'm going to my room now." The orange-haired Vizard tried to free himself from the strange stares he was getting, however, his attempt failed.

"Kurosaki, there is something that needs to be discussed _now._" The stoic Kuchiki's voice showed no emotions.

"What do you want?" Ichigo sighed heavily while running his hand through his wild orange hair.

"I have decided that there's nothing we can do here, therefore we are going back to Soul Society and _you _are coming with us as well," the 6th division's Taichou informed the man standing before him.

"W-what do you mean? Why do I have to come with you?!" Ichigo's thoughts started racing, thinking about the Arrancar's threat. If he were to go to Soul Society right now, he would be endangering a lot of people including Rukia, "I'm not going," he said stubbornly.

"You are coming with us. I feel that you have something the Arrancar wants, therefore you are going to be under strict surveillance in order to know the Arrancar's motivations," the stoic Taichou told him as a matter of a fact, "I will contact Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou about your arrival."

"I said I'm not going, Byakuya!" Ichigo shouted at the top of his voice to make his point clear, earning himself a disapproving look from everyone in the room, "take Rukia and go back, I can handle things here. This doesn't concern you anymore," he whispered while looking at anything but at the sixth division's Shinigami.

"Very well." The black-haired man closed his eyes to show that he had nothing more to say.

Ichigo climbed the stairs to his room tiredly, one thought plugging his mind, _I'm sorry Rukia._

* * *

"Stupid fool," Rukia choked through her tears. Running aimlessly in the street without knowing where to go, she found herself in a spot that brought an unwanted memory. She was taken to Soul Society in that exact place, furthermore, she found that orange-haired idiot almost dead in that dreadful place.

She shook her head to clear her mind of those images. Cautiously, she walked to the place that showed unfixed buildings and pavements. Trails of dry tears marked her face as she finally calmed down and stopped crying. She knelt down and touched the spot where he was lying when she found him bleeding. It made her body shudder at the thought.

"Nice night, isn't it Kuchiki-san?" A happy voice commented from behind. Rukia turned around to find the blond shop keeper smiling at her.

"I think," she answered him, "what are you doing here Urahara?" She asked him with an impatient tone.

"Can't a normal shop keeper take a walk in this lovely night?" He replied while pouting at her, feigning being hurt.

"You're far from being normal," she deadpanned icily, her eyes narrowing at him.

"That actually hurt, you know," he flipped his fan to hide his lower face from view. But his eyes clearly indicated that he was smiling. "Kuchiki-san, it's not really wise to be out here alone." His voice held the meaning of seriousness which rewarded him with a confused look from the Kuchiki princess.

"What are you trying to say, Urahara?" She asked cautiously, finally giving him her full attention.

"Ah, nothing really, but you should learn to look underneath the words that are spoken sometimes, Kuchiki-san," with that said, he was back to his usual chipper self, "enjoy the nice night!" He waved from over his shoulder as he walked away from her, leaving her mind full of questions.

"What was that all about?" She muttered under her breath with a hand under her chin. She decided to leave that for later and started making her journey back home. Maybe he was right; maybe it's really not safe to be alone in those circumstances. After all, even Renji got beaten by that mysterious Arrancar.

"R-Rukia-chan, is that really you?" A familiar voice asked hesitantly, afraid of being wrong. The raven-haired woman narrowed her eyes at the new incomer.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded roughly. Most people would be afraid of her by now, but that person didn't even know when to leave nor to shut up.

"It is you! Oh you're as beautiful as ever Rukia-chan!" The brown-haired man exclaimed happily.

Rukia stared at the person before her dumb-founded until her memory decided to serve her. "Keigo-san, I presume?" She quickly changed to her school act, her fake smile gracing her face and her eyes sparkling in the dark night.

"No need to be formal, you can stop acting now." Asano Keigo waved his hand as a gesture of dismissing the matter.

"Thank god, I only do this to irritate that strawberry idiot." Rukia sighed and rubbed her temple, "how did you know about the school-girl act?" She suddenly remembered not telling anyone about that in school, so how did Keigo of all the people know about something like that?

"Well...Tatsuki, Meizuro and I know all about Ichigo being a shinigami, so we decided to ask him about you. At first he denied being a shinigami but after getting a few well-aimed punches from Tatsuki, he agreed to tell us everything and he didn't stop mentioning how annoying and loud mouth you are," Keigo said while rubbing the back of his head with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Is that so?" The now-infuriated-raven-haired woman wondered, the sound of her gritted teeth wasn't missed by the brown-haired man. Keigo took a step back, with both of his hands raised in a defensive manner.

"But I'm sure that he was just exaggerating," he assured her, a sweat drop trailed down his cheek, "speaking of Ichigo, how's he doing? I haven't seen him in a while," he wondered and looked at Rukia for an answer.

"That stupid arrogant incompetent fruit is doing _fine_," she answered him while gritting her teeth so hard to prevent herself from saying anything else about a certain unwanted someone.

"Ahaha....I guess he really did it this time, right? You're really angry at him." He smiled to ease the tension around the adopted Kuchiki.

"You have no idea," she said sarcastically while rolling her eyes to stare back at the sky.

"No matter what he's done, I'm sure that he meant no harm. You know Ichigo better than any of us but I'm positive that he did it for your own good." He gave her a big smile before looking at his hand watch. "AH, I'm late, my sister is going to kill me," he yelled and started running towards his house, "see ya' around, Rukia-chan!" He waved his hand before disappearing away into the dark night.

"What's wrong with everyone? Do they know something that I don't? First Urahara and now Keigo." Rukia walked towards the Shinigami temporary resident; Ichigo's house. Everything, she heard from the genius shop keeper and the usually idiot friend played through her mind over and over like a broken record. Maybe, if she gave it more thought, she would be able to figure out what they truly meant.

In a steady pace, Rukia walked back home after deciding that she had had enough time to think everything thoroughly with some unexpected but valuable help. Upon reaching the house, she noted that Ichigo was still awake thanks to the room's light.

She sighed deeply before jumping to stand before his window, finding him standing in front of _her _closet with his back facing the window. She stood in silence for a minute thinking about what her next move would be. Taking a deep breath, she slid gracefully into the room.

"Hey," Ichigo whispered with his back still facing her.

"Hey," she whispered coldly. Ichigo winced mentally at hearing her icy voice. It reminded him about the first time he met her, she acted like she's superior to him in everything and he almost believed that. Until he started to understand her and read her like an open book.

The orange-haired man slowly turned to face her, like a little boy afraid of something. His eyes were glassy and looked like two pools of water ready to flood at any minute. His eyebrows weren't furrowed like they usually were instead they resembled desperation and sadness. "Rukia, I didn't mean to upset you," he admitted quietly.

Rukia's eyes widened slightly but quickly regained their usual look. "You did what's right," she answered him as she brushed by him to get to her closet. However, she didn't get to reach her sleeping place as a hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her in place.

"No, I don't think that I did the right thing, I never do anything right! You always help me in making the right decisions!" The young Vizard panted heavily, feeling like a heavy burden was taken off his chest.

"You made the right decision this time," she replied staring solely at the closet's wooden doors.

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly "No, Rukia please ---"

"Soul Society would never accept a relationship between a shinigami and a living person so let it go Ichigo, please...let it go," the raven-haired woman pleaded while trying with all her might to stop the salty tears from falling down.

"I-it was wrong of me to push you away today, I realize that now and I don't want to be too late to fix things between us," he confessed, his voice cracking with the mere thought of losing his friend forever, "Byakuya decided to leave, Rukia."

"I'm sorry, Ichigo." Rukia freed her wrist from his strong grip but before she could continue walking towards her closet, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Strong masculine arms wrapped themselves from behind around Rukia's small frame, gently holding her in place. Rukia felt something soft touch her neck then orange covered her vision. The familiar scent of the substitute shinigami made her close her eyes in pleasure.

"Please, don't go." Those simple three words broke the shield that refrained the raven-haired woman's tears from breaking through. Tears trailed down her cheeks and she made no effort to wipe them off.

"Ichigo, please stop," Rukia chocked out the words.

"Rukia, I can't imagine myself without you. I was confused and scared, I was afraid of losing you. I know that this may sound impossible but when you left earlier, I realized how much you meant to me," Ichigo whispered in Rukia's ear, his breath tickling her neck.

The orange-haired man turned her to face him and looked straight into her watery eyes. He moved his hand to wipe her tears then hugged her tightly. That time Rukia hugged him back "You fool." She smiled into his chest.

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To be continued.....

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**Thanks for reading! And could you please make my day and review!! Pretty please?!**

**~KWF~**


	8. Follow Your Heart

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

**Chapter eight**

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The sun's golden rays shone brightly and sneaked their way into the orange-haired man's room. A groan muffled by pillows echoed through the room then was followed by a series of curses. Ichigo's eyes stirred a little but were too lazy to open.

Last night's events came rushing back to his mind and with them a small smile graced his perfect lips. That time, he cracked his eyes open to gaze at the partly-closed closet. The little crack allowed him enough vision of the raven-haired woman's face.

He felt relief swell in him to see her still in his closet, sleeping peacefully. After Byakuya's decision to leave the living world, he feared that Rukia would leave through the night to spare him and herself the difficult goodbye. Who knew when she would return if she went back to Soul Society?

He took a deep breath then started getting up without making much noise. Before walking out of his bedroom, he permitted himself one last glance at the sleeping woman. On his walk to the bathroom, he stumbled upon the red-haired shinigami whom tried to muffle his yawn with his hand.

"Couldn't sleep?" Renji asked curiously.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo demanded a little too harshly. He didn't mean to sound like that but he wasn't actually a morning person.

"Take it easy, man. It's still six in the morning." Renji tried to cool the annoyed-strawberry.

"Really?" Ichigo wondered out loud then something clicked in his mind when he noticed the familiar black robe, "are you going somewhere?" He narrowed his eyes at the tattooed man. Just the thought of Rukia leaving made his blood boil.

He knew that it was unreasonable and selfish of him to keep her there than to let her return to Soul Society, he knew the danger that loomed over her and threatened to hurt her but he couldn't bring himself to let her go before his own two eyes.

Even after deciding to make her hate him so that she would return to Seireitei, even after all the thinking he'd done in order to convince himself of reason, he still couldn't bring himself to watch her retreating back fade into the white gate.

"Well...you heard Kuchiki-Taichou, we're leaving and I was on my way to wake Rukia up," Renji answered him honestly.

Ichigo kept quiet and stared at the red-haired man walking into his room. He couldn't think of anything to say.

A few minutes later, Renji came out of the room and walked past him without a word then was followed by the raven-haired woman whom walked with her eyes looking a head of her not sparing him a single glance.

Rukia's hand brushed against Ichigo's when she passed him and that brought Ichigo's voice back. "Wait." He grabbed hold of Rukia's forearm, pinning her in her place. She tilted her head a little to look at him with pools of regret.

"I have to go, I'm sorry." She pulled her hand out of his grip and continued on her way, leaving Ichigo only to stare at her retreating back.

He chuckled bitterly as he thought about that dark Arrancar. He knew that he shouldn't let his emotions get in the way, Rukia's safety was the only thing that mattered and he couldn't afford to lose her so why was he acting like that?

"**Because you're pathetic king." **

"Long time since I've heard your voice," Ichigo mocked, earning himself a scowl from the white man in his mind.

"**You're not gonna go all scared and shakin'?" **The hollow's voice showed the disappointment he felt.

"That was a long time ago." The orange-haired man started walking towards the departing group of shinigami.

"**Well, you better stop talking or people will think that you've gone crazy." **The hollow's laugh echoed through Ichigo's inner world until it dissipated.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets he watched as Renji opened the gate to Soul Society. After opening the gate, Renji stepped aside and turned to face the substitute shinigami. Ichigo stared at him, confused from the look that tainted the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou's eyes. They looked sad and sympathetic.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo," Renji whispered before disappearing to appear behind the orange-haired man. He grabbed both of his arms from behind, depriving him from the use of his hands temporarily. Confused by Renji's action, he didn't notice Hisagi approaching him and hitting him on his neck.

"Why?" That was the last word that was whispered before blackness took over Ichigo's sight. His body fell limp against Renji's hold as Rukia watched from afar with a pained expression on her face.

Her brother told her about that so that she wouldn't do anything rash and he explained to her why they needed to do it. The raven-haired woman didn't oppose her brother because deep down she understood her brother's point of view, but seeing Ichigo's limp body still made her heart ache.

She knew that she should be scolding herself for feeling that way but she couldn't bring herself to do that. Even after all the things she was taught in the Kuchiki estate about never showing any kind of emotions and that compassion, sympathy and love weren't suited for the noble family.

A small tear slipped unnoticed, tainting her pale white cheek. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision of the disgracing salty water drops before turning away and entering the gate that would lead them to Soul Society.

As she walked through the whiteness, she allowed her mind to wander to the first time she met the orange-haired man. At first, she thought of him as an insolent disrespectful fool but everything started to change when she was taken to Soul Society at the hands of her childhood friend and her brother.

It was then that her feelings started to torture her. At first, she brushed it off and considered them as nostalgic feelings for her late Fuku-Taichou because of the high resemblance between Ichigo and Kaien. However, she was mistaken. She still couldn't describe how much joy she felt when he held her and told her that he's going to rescue her.

Rukia stopped herself from thinking anything further for fear that more tears would escape her watery eyes. She remembered that shinigami should not shed tears, because that would be a proof that the body was defeated by the heart.

Soon after, she found herself standing in Seireitei. Her face was constructed into surprise; Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou was standing before her. She quickly took a hold of herself and bowed in respect. She was soon followed by the others.

Renji stood beside her holding Ichigo's shinigami form limply. One look at him and that was it for her, she hastily tore her gaze off him, and afraid that she would do something stupid therefore she settled on closing her eyes.

"Kuchiki-Taichou." The strong voice of the Sou-Taichou brought the chills to Rukia's body and made her swallow heavily. "Why did you bring the substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo with you?" He asked firmly.

"I believe that there's a connection between Kurosaki Ichigo and the Arrancar, and I see that it's only fit to bring him here to avoid any more damage to the living world," Kuchiki Byakuya gave his explanation in his usual cold tone.

"Very well then, I take it that he'll be staying at the sixth division's barracks." The first division's Taichou opened his eyes to look at the Kuchiki noble.

"Yes, Sou-Taichou," with that said, Yamamoto started walking towards his office in the first division, leaving Byakuya to handle everything.

"Renji, take Kurosaki Ichigo to his room," the noble Kuchiki ordered as he turned to leave.

"Hai Taichou," Renji replied and started to walk in a different direction. Soon after, Rukia was left alone as everyone went to take care of their own business.

Rukia wandered aimlessly towards her own division. Her thoughts found a way to take over her and blind her from everything around her. She didn't even notice the people that would stop to greet her once in a while.

By the time she was released from her thoughts, she realized that she was standing in front of her desk. She sighed heavily before sitting down and working on her paperwork.

* * *

A figure with orange hair slept on a bed that was located next to the window. He stirred a little in his sleep until he finally decided to crack his eyes open. He looked around confusedly, as he was still a little groggy from the hit he received.

He touched the aching spot and winced a little in pain. His eyes widened the moment he saw the black material that his sleeve was made of.

_I'm in my shinigami form? What happened?_

He looked around him to identify his surroundings and realized that he had never been in that place before.

He forced himself to remember what happened but all he could actually recall that he was hit rather hard on his neck. He made a mental note to hit whoever hit him that hard before standing up and walking towards the door.

Carefully, he slid the door open and checked if anyone was out there. He took a deep breath before stepping out of the room.

"What are you doing strawberry?" Renji asked annoyed by the way Ichigo was acting.

The orange-haired man felt his heart bursting out of his chest as he turned angrily to face the person whom frightened him. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" He yelled at the smirking person before him.

"'Didn't know that you're that easy to sneak on," the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou scoffed while rising his eyebrows.

Ichigo huffed angrily and turned away from him while crossing his arms over his chest. Suddenly, he remembered what happened to him and turned to glare at the red-haired shinigami "Why did you bring me here?" He hissed angrily.

"Kuchiki-Taichou's orders," Renji simply answered and walked away from the angry man.

The young Kurosaki glared holes in the retreating back of Renji. Finally, he sighed and started making his way towards the Noble's office. Eager to give that up-tight Taichou a piece of his mind, he used shunpo to get to his office.

Upon reaching his destination, he slammed the door open and walked inside the office without waiting for Byakuya to invite him in.

"I thought we already discussed that!" Ichigo slammed his fists on the sixth division's Taichou's desk.

Byakuya seemed unfazed by the orange-haired man's outburst. As a matter of a fact, he expected the strawberry fool to do that the moment he woke up. So, he determinedly ignored him and kept his eyes fixed on the paperwork at hand.

A vein twitched on Ichigo's forehead, threatening to explode at any given minute. He narrowed his eyes at the calm man before him. "Answer me!" He yelled while leaning further to glare at the man sitting before him.

Kuchiki Byakuya placed the brush back to its place before narrowing his eyes at the raging man before him. "It's for the own good of the living world," he told him icily.

Ichigo straightened from his position and stared at Byakuya waiting from him to explain. He was surprised to say the least and he wanted an explanation. How could it be for the own good of the living world?

"What do you mean?" He retorted back.

"That Arrancar has something to do with you. Therefore, if you were to stay there, a fight would most probably occur and as you may know, Karakura Town is in no condition to be able to handle a fight with so much reiatsu at this moment," the stoic Kuchiki finished calmly and without any further ado, he continued working on his paperwork, declaring the end of their conversation.

Ichigo stepped away from the desk, his eyes wide with shock. How couldn't he think about that? He quickly recovered from his shock state and started walking out of the office, leaving the door open.

He was so caught up in finding a way to get Rukia return to Soul Society that he forgot how much damage he had caused when he fought against Aizen in that fateful battle.

His mouth formed a tight line and his eyes were full of regret. Walking slowly through the streets of Seireitei, he spotted the sixth division's barracks where his room was located. He sighed softly, climbed up and sat on the roof.

The beautiful scene of Seireitei spreading itself before his eyes. His gaze lingered, amazed that Soul Society was really a beautiful place. He saw the pink Sakura trees around a specific estate and suspected that it belonged to Byakuya. Averting his sight to look at the far end of Seireitei, he could make the small huts of Rukongai. A sad smile graced his lips as the memory of his first arrival in Soul Society played in his mind, reminding him about how Rukia was going to be executed because of him.

He never really thought that he would end up coming there again.

However, he was kind of glad that he was able to be in the same world Rukia was in. She really did change his life and he couldn't imagine himself without her. She was the reason that he was able to change for the better. Before she came, he rarely smiled and he would always keep his frown plastered on his face but now, he could safely say that he would smile once in awhile when she's with him.

Sighing softly, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the light breeze that played with his orange locks. It felt refreshing and it helped in clearing his mind.

"Hey," a soft voice called from behind.

He turned his head to look at its owner and smiled slightly. "Hey."

Rukia sat beside him and made herself comfortable, leaning slightly against him. "What are you doing up here?" She asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

He spared her a glance before staring at the beautiful scenery of Seireitei. "Just thinking." He shrugged which caused her to stumble a little and that made him smirk.

She scowled at him playfully then smiled and leaned against his shoulder again. "You know, thinking is really bad for you," she hummed then closed her eyes.

His eyebrow twitched a little but he kept himself from saying anything back.. "Rukia," he whispered her name softly then looked at her, "I'm really happy that I've met you." His eyes searched hers when she looked at him, confusion written all over her features.

At first, the raven-haired woman gawked at him, not knowing what to respond at his sudden confession but then after some time, a smile broke over her face. "I'm happy that I've stumbled upon someone as idiot as you," she said playfully.

"You're one to say," Ichigo retorted, slightly annoyed that she called him an idiot but he was glad nonetheless, and relief swelled in his chest for the fact that she felt the same way towards him.

Feeling too comfortable around her, his arm sneaked behind her and hugged her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. A shade of red crept over Rukia's cheeks as her body stiffened from his sudden touch but she leaned into him afterwards.

The orange-haired man looked over the distance, debating whether to tell her now about the Arrancar's deal or not. His face hardened when he thought of that dark Arrancar kidnapping Rukia just because of him.

If he wanted a real fight then that's what he'd get. But if he ever touched her...there's no telling what Ichigo would do to him. The orange-haired Vizard gritted his teeth, making Rukia stir a little and look worriedly at her companion. "Ichigo, are you okay?" She asked, "you've been acting strangely these past few days."

"I'm fine," he assured her, "we should go back, it's late now and I'm sure that even in Soul Society the weather tends to get cold," he told her as a matter of a fact as he got up.

"You're probably right." She got up too with the help of Ichigo.

"Why don't I walk you home?" The young Kurosaki offered as he scratched the back of his head nervously, a shade of red tainting his cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" Rukia smirked as she nudged him in the ribs.

"I-I'm not!" He quickly replied, his face turning a darker shade of red.

"You really look like a strawberry now." The raven-haired shinigami laughed at his reaction, he was fuming with anger and embarrassment.

"Shut up, midget!" He yelled at her, trying to make her stop laughing at him but with no avail. But of course, all he got was a decent hit in the shin. He mumbled curses under his breath while looking away from her.

"Come on, Ichigo, get moving," Rukia ordered him with a smirk as he looked startled at her. After a few seconds, realization dawned on him so he quickly collected himself and placed his frown back in its usual place.

The walk to the Kuchiki estate was fairly quiet, neither one of them had anything to say so they settled to enjoying the comfortable silence that enveloped them and the wonderful company. Soon, they found themselves standing in front of a huge mansion. "Well...this is it," Rukia said while looking at Ichigo.

"So... I'll be seeing you tomorrow then," Ichigo bid her farewell and waited till she entered the Kuchiki residence. After making sure that she's in, he started his journey towards the sixth barracks. As much as hated staying in that up-tight Kuchiki's division, he had no other place to stay in. Therefore, he tried to persuade himself to over look that little fact and think nothing of it.

Only one more week before Miedo came to kidnap Rukia. Although, Ichigo highly doubted that the Arrancar would come all the way from Hueco Mundo to Soul Society only to get Rukia, he couldn't help the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

His senses told him that something bad was about to occur and he hated that feeling. He stuffed his hands in his Hakama pockets and continued walking towards his room. Once again, that previous thought came back to his mind; should he tell Rukia about all of that or should he keep quiet?

He felt like he owned her an explanation for his previous actions back in the living world so he decided to tell her tomorrow. After all, if he was to suddenly disappear, she would most definitely come looking for him and that's the last thing he ever wanted.

Upon entering his room, he found someone inside it. He entered cautiously. "Who's there?" He asked cautiously.

"Ah, Ichigo! You're finally back!" Renji greeted his friend, "c'mon, everyone's waiting." He grabbed Ichigo's arm and started pulling him outside his room.

"Where are you taking me?" Ichigo asked as he tried to free his arm from Renji's iron grip but couldn't so he walked along with the red-haired shinigami.

"To the bar of course! We all felt like we needed to relax a little so we decided to go drinking," Renji stated as a matter of a fact as he passed through the houses of Seireitei.

"What has that got to do with me!?" The orange-haired man yelled, "besides, I'm still under age!" He started freaking out and tried to free himself but all his attempts were useless.

"Well...it doesn't really matter here and you really need to chill out a little." Finally arriving, the two were greeted by a huge crowd. Ichigo was pulled inside and thrown against a chair, bottles of sake filled the table he was sitting at and the smell of the intoxicant drink filled the air.

Ichigo mentally groaned, he didn't want to be there and get drunk. He would even prefer fighting than being there at that moment. However, the minute he got his eyes off the sake bottles on the table, all thoughts about leaving that place were gone.

Rukia sat in front of him with wide eyes staring at him. "Don't tell me they brought here against your will too," she groaned.

"I guess you're here because of the same thing," Ichigo stated.

"I swear if I ever get my hands on Rangiku, I will kill her." The raven-haired woman's eyes burned with anger which earned her a chuckle from the man sitting before her, "what's so funny?" She demanded, irritation clear in her voice.

"I'm sure that it won't be that bad," Ichigo tried to assure her but he needed to convince himself first.

"Yeah right," she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Ichigo! Have a drink!" Renji yelled as he appeared to be already drunk thanks to the pink shade covering his cheeks and his lazy droopy eyes.

"I think I'll pass." The orange-haired shinigami waved his hands in front of him to indicate that he didn't want to put any sake in his mouth.

"Nonsense!" But that didn't stop the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou from holding Ichigo down and stuffing a bottle of sake into his mouth. Ichigo struggled to get the white bottle out of his mouth but couldn't as he soon noticed Ikkaku holding him and keeping the bottle in his mouth, making sure that he drank every bit of it.

The young Kurosaki's eyes started dropping lazily as his vision started getting blurry and the room around him felt dizzy. When the bottle was finished, he felt someone patting his back and saying, "see, it isn't so bad."

Ichigo tried to stand up on his feet but for some unknown reason, he couldn't. They felt like jelly underneath him and he would keep falling every time he tried to stand up.

Renji looked worriedly at his orange-haired friend and waved his hands in front of him. "How many fingers do you see?" He waved two fingers in front of Ichigo's eyes.

"Four," was the only answer before Ichigo passed out.

"Maybe you should take him home, Rukia," the red-haired man suggested.

"You should have known that this would happen! He's still under age and can't drink alcohol!" She scolded the red-haired man.

"I thought that he was kidding when he said that." Renji scratched the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly at the irritated shinigami. Rukia sighed heavily before grabbing a hold of Ichigo's heavy body and walking out of the bar.

The night's cold air hit her immediately and she fought the urge to rub her shoulders. She breathed softly as she struggled to keep her orange-haired friend from falling. He really was heavy although he looked thin. She cursed under her breath as he slipped out of her hold and almost fell on the cold street.

Re-adjusting his position, she continued walking slowly. However, that time his face was near hers, she flushed and tried to ignore that close proximity. His hot filled-with-sake breath tickled her and didn't help her at all. She quickened her steps, not wanting to be in that position for too long.

Finally, arriving at his room without any more awkward situations, she moved the blanket away then laid him gently on his bed. She was finally able to breathe normally. She looked at him with soft eyes, he looked peaceful and his frown was nowhere to be seen.

She neared the bed so that she would be able to tug the blanket around him. The weather tended to get cold at night and she didn't need him complaining about a cold he caught.

When she felt that she could leave now, she started to head towards the door but was stopped abruptly by a hand holding her forearm.

"Sorry for causing you trouble." Ichigo tried to open his eyelids to stare at Rukia's mesmerizing violet orbs but failed miserably. The sake was too much for him and it was making him feel dizzy.

"It's okay," she placated him, "now go to sleep. You'll have a headache tomorrow morning," she warned him before trying to move towards the door again.

"Stay." His voice was sleepy yet demanding as he tried his hardest to keep his eyes open.

"I don't think that this is a good idea," Rukia hesitantly said while looking anywhere other than the person sleeping on the bed.

Suddenly, he pulled her towards him, making her fall on top of him, her face heated up as she couldn't look anywhere but at his strong hazel eyes.

"Please," he whispered. His breath sent the shivers down her body. She felt her stomach tighten and she couldn't stop her racing heart.

Ichigo moved his other hand to the back of Rukia's head, making her face almost touch his. He took the chance of being close to her and crushed his lips against hers. At first, Rukia didn't know how to react as she was too shocked to do anything but then she melt into the kiss and forgot everything around her.

Soon, that one kiss turned needy and rough. Both felt as desire coursed its way through their bodies and they made no attempt to stop what they were doing that time.

-

To be continued....

**

* * *

**

First of all, I'm so sorry for the late update and all I can say is: Life, that's my excuse. Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter and the rating may change in the next one from T to M but that will depend on your reviews, so please be kind and tell me

**Have a nice week!**

**~KWF~**


	9. You're Right

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**-**

**Chapter nine**

**Warning slight M or total M (Don't know, you choose).**

* * *

Ichigo's kisses left hot trails on Rukia's neck as she couldn't stop herself from letting out a moan of pleasure. She knew that she would regret doing that later because he's a human and she's a shinigami, they may suffer the consequences of what they were doing if they were found out but for now, she pushed those thoughts into the furthest angle of her mind.

His kisses were like a drug to her as she couldn't think clearly anymore. It seemed that with each kiss he would plant on her, she would feel ecstatic. They finally reached her jaw line. Ichigo licked her creamy skin and felt the raven-haired woman shiver beneath his kisses.

Ichigo suddenly felt the need to tease her and make her squirm underneath him. He slowly licked her till he reached her earlobe, he bit it softly making Rukia yelp in surprise.

"You id---iot...," the Kuchiki princess scolded her orange-haired lover but her voice faded when he started sucking at her earlobe. She sighed contently and closed her eyes, relaxing under his touch.

Ichigo smirked when he heard her sighing so he decided to give some of his attention to the thing that turned him on; her lips. Her delicate pink lips. The moment Ichigo's mouth left Rukia's ear, she felt the lack of warmth almost instantly and wished for it to return.

But she knew better than to voice out her protests as she realized that his experienced mouth found a new place to toy with. His lips crashed into hers, locked in a passionate kiss. He pushed against her making her stumble deep into the bed and she also pushed against him.

Biting her lips, he gained access to her mouth as he slipped his tongue into it. Ichigo's tongue caressed Rukia's, his hand slowly sneaked up to touch her hair. He ran his hand through her silky raven hair, memorizing the nice feeling of her hair between his fingers.

They both broke apart to give themselves some air. Rukia seemed dazed by the passionate kiss; she felt Ichigo's hot breath tickling her neck, his lips planting wet kisses until they reached the collar of her shinigami black robs.

The moment Ichigo's hands starting hovering over the black fabric that separated him from the creamy white skin of the Kuchiki princess, he heard her rigid breaths. A ghost of a smirk covered his thirsty lips as he started unveiling her pretty skin slowly.

As the black shinigami fabric slipped down her body, a white article that covered her breasts appeared. Taking his time while listening to the melody that Rukia's breaths made, he finally exposed her breasts to the cool air.

Rukia yelped when she felt his mouth nibbling one of her breasts as his other hand drew circles around the other one. Her breasts hardened in response, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a moan of pleasure.

As if he was responding to her moans, he cupped both of her breasts in his hands and crushed his lips on hers. Letting out all of the emotions in that kiss, making her understand how much he actually loved her.

After releasing her lips from his crushing kiss, he looked at her eyes and admired their beauty. He was mesmerized by how vivid and shiny they seemed to be. He couldn't believe that not even once did he stop to look at her violet orbs.

His vision blurred a little so he shook his head to try and clear out his hazy vision but to no avail. He felt dizziness creep into his consciousness as darkness started taking over his world.

Rukia stared at her orange-haired lover, confusion written all over her pretty face. One minute he was kissing her, the next he was staring at her eyes then suddenly he collapsed on top of her. The second she heard him snoring a little, she felt anger boiling in her.

Oh, how much did she want to beat the living day light out of him right now. He was sleeping....in the middle of something they both wanted so much for such a long time. But there he was sleeping on top of her.

She sighed loudly as she started moving him away non-too-gently to let him fall on the bed. Thinking about it, she knew that he would sooner or later pass out; after all, he did drink a huge amount of sake so he was bound to collapse.

Pulling her shinigami robes to cover her chest and making sure that her clothes were decently arranged, she slowly started making her way out of his room. She didn't want to cause any noise -not that it actually mattered- as she left.

Taking one last glance back at the orange-haired moron, she couldn't help but let a small smile play on her lips before leaving. He probably wouldn't remember their little night together anyway when he woke up tomorrow.

* * *

A growl broke loose in one of the sixth division's rooms followed by a hiss of pain. Ichigo cursed rather loudly as he fell onto the floor painfully. He held his head trying to ease the throbbing pain that started the minute he so much as tried to open his eyes.

_That asshole...._

The orange-haired shinigami winced as he tried to get up. His head felt like it was going to explode and his eyes wouldn't listen to him and open up. Everything around him was a mess, he realized. A sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach reminded him of the after-effects of drinking.

It was hard to walk in a straight line or to keep standing on his feet. They felt like jelly underneath him and he didn't have the time to figure out how to reach his desired destination because of the feeling in his stomach.

One minute he was standing, the next he found himself bending down on all of his four as he emptied the contents of his stomach. He took a few panted breaths before resuming the process of cleaning his stomach from the intoxicated drink he had last night.

After making sure that his stomach was empty, he started to get up from his position. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while surveying the damage. He would have to clean all of that before he decided to go out.

Ichigo made a mental note to torture a certain person for what he'd done. He trudged towards the bathroom where he decided to take a bath first to refresh himself.

The pain in his head was unbearable and he wished that Rukia had given him something to ease the pain a little when she carried him back there.

_Rukia..._

Ichigo's eyes snapped open as a memory flashed in his eyes. He felt his blood running cold. He quickly finished his bath and put on his shinigami robes before he cleaned the mess he caused. Out of hurry, he forgot to take Zangetsu with him and left it in his room, leaning against the wall next to his bed.

Cold sweat trailed down his cheeks as his eyes darted from one corner to another as he searched around for the raven-haired woman. Every time he would think about what he had done last night, his heart would beat faster and his cheeks would turn a bright shade of red.

"Oi Ichigo! Are you feeling okay?" The voice of the shinigami whom the orange-haired man wanted to kill asked.

"Renji..." Ichigo turned his face to look at him with eyes of pure anger.

"Relax, will you." The red-haired man raised his hands defensively in front of his face, feeling the anger radiating from the substitute shinigami.

"Relax!? How can I relax when you had me drunk last night?!" The young Kurosaki raged, holding the man before him by the collar of his black robes.

"Take it easy, you looked stressed by something and I only wanted to help you relax for a bit," Renji told him lightly with a shrug.

Ichigo growled as he roughly let him go. "Where's Rukia?" He demanded.

"You'll find her in her division if not in the Kuchiki mansion. Why? Did anything happen between you two?" The tattooed shinigami questioned while narrowing his eyes.

"N-no. Why would you think that?" Ichigo felt his face heat up again and quickly turned his back towards the sixth division's Fuku-Taichou.

"I thought you two fought again," Renji assumed casually before leaving the orange-haired man alone, "I'll catch you later!" He waved his hand from over his shoulder.

Heaving a deep sigh of relief, Ichigo resumed his search for Rukia but that time he didn't wander around aimlessly in Soul Society, he had a destination in my mind. First stop: Rukia's division. He shunpo-ed towards the 13th division and the minute he arrived there, he was greeted by the two bickering shinigami.

"Ichigo-san! How are you?" Kiyone saluted.

"Uh...fine," Ichigo answered with uncertainty lacing his voice.

"Hey! I saw him first you flat-chested girl!" A bearded man yelled loudly, making Ichigo's head throb painfully. He still suffered from his hangover, it felt quite bad actually and he blamed it all on Renji.

"Who are you calling flat-chested, you bearded buffoon!" Kiyone retorted back sharply.

"Why you little....." A vein could be seen on Sentarou's forehead.

After that, Ichigo lost count of how many insults were exchanged between the two. He decided to silently slip into Ukitake's office and ask if Rukia was there or not. At least the older man wouldn't be as annoying and obnoxious as his underlings.

He knocked on the door and waited for the white-haired man to reply.

"Come in," the gentle voice of the 13th division's Taichou answered and that was Ichigo's cue to open the door and to slip away from the bickering shinigami.

"Ah, Ichigo-kun, how may I help you?" Ukitake smiled sincerely at the nervous man before him.

"Uh, have you seen Rukia?" Ichigo mumbled while looking at anything other than the smiling man before him.

"Why? Is there something that you want to tell her?" Ukitake blinked innocently at the orange-haired strawberry as he slowly sipped his green tea.

"Uh...n-no, not really." Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of Rukia's captain. Why would everyone think that there was something going on between them? Or to be more precise, how _did_ they _know_ that there's actually something going on between them? Was it that evident?

Ukitake felt his discomfort so he decided to spare him the embarrassment and answer him without any further ado. "I'm afraid not," he said with an apologetic tone.

"I see, well...thank you for your time, Ukitake-san." Ichigo waved slightly before making his way out. Rukia was not in her division so next stop: the Kuchiki mansion. Oh, how much he hated going into that place. It smelled like its up-tight owner.

He couldn't imagine how Rukia was actually able to bear living in the same house as that Kuchiki bastard. How she could bear staying around him was something beyond Ichigo's thinking.

He shunpo-ed towards the designed place. He didn't bother to knock at all and simply shunpo-ed to stand in front of the lake that was located in the middle of the mansion's garden. His eyes fell on Rukia's still form. She was still sleeping and he wondered how she could be sleeping that late in the morning.

He neared her still form and peered at her while trying to make as little noise as possible. She looked peaceful and vulnerable. Her raven hair laid sprawled around her pale face, framing it. Her mouth was slightly parted and he couldn't seem to be able to move his eyes from her full pink lips.

He unconsciously licked his lips as naughty thoughts of her played in his mind. Ichigo was lost in his own world and didn't notice the strange look Rukia was giving him.

"What are you doing here?" The raven-haired woman hissed. She woke up to find him staring at her, how he entered into the mansion was a mystery to her.

Her voice didn't seem to wake the orange-haired man from his thoughts as he neared her slowly with a steady pace. His eyes looked dazed and he gave her a look that both scared and excited her. He stepped closer to her and sat next to her, close to her just like last night.

However that time, he was not drunk.

Ichigo was lost in her eyes; he couldn't for the life of him tear his eyes away from her vivid violet pools. At first, they shone with anger but then it turned into excitement and something akin to fear but he still brushed it off as the hangover playing tricks on him.

He stepped so close to her that his face was barely inches away from her. He could feel her hot breath on his face, sending chills up to his spine. His hazel eyes trailed down to her lips. "You're brother is not here," his whisper made it sound like a fact and all Rukia was able to do was nod slowly.

He pressed his lips against her own pink ones gently, kissing her fully. Surprise, was the word that described how Rukia actually felt at that moment. For the life of her, she couldn't quite grasp the fact that Ichigo was kissing her and he's _sober._

She didn't know how to respond to that sudden course of action and felt the orange-haired man hesitate. Just as he was about to pull back, she cupped his cheeks and kissed him more passionately, letting him know that she wanted that as much as he did.

He smiled against her lips and returned her kiss hungrily. Pushing her back onto the mattress that she was sleeping on earlier, he hovered over her small frame.

For the first time, Rukia felt timid as she noticed how his strong body towered over hers and blocked the sun from her view. She took a few ragged breaths as she waited for him to make the first move.

Ichigo braced himself on his elbows and neared her face to plant a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth, which was followed with more kisses alongside her jaw line. The raven-haired woman showed her pleasure as she allowed low moans to escape her mouth.

Ichigo immediately returned his attention to her rosy lips as he let his tongue invade her mouth and engage himself in a battle over dominance.

His hands started exploring different parts of her body; with each stroke he left a tingling sensation to run up Rukia's spine and cause her to moan in content. One of his hands busied itself in teasing Rukia's breasts, making her yelp every once and while. As the other one discovered its way towards the lower portion of her body.

Finally reaching its desired destination, Ichigo's squeezed her butt as if to test how her reaction would be, and he wasn't disappointed in the least. She glared at him for his sudden move but then melted into the feeling of his hands roaming her body, exploring it and giving her enjoyable feelings.

The hand on her breast started lowering to caress her white tight stomach. Tickling her a bit and making her giggle a little. Then it started lowering dangerously to touch her hips and draw small teasing circles.

Ichigo kissed her again as if to occupy her as one if his hands held her hip in place, when his other hand went up from her thighs to the most private place in her body. He noticed her flinching in surprise before she used her hand to guide his fingers up.

He entered two digits at first hesitantly, waiting for her permission. When he saw her show no signs of resisting, he thrust them into her, which earned him a satisfied moan. She arched her head back as waves of the intoxicant pleasure passed her. He grunted in response as he pulled his fingers back and licked the moisture. He smirked at her. "You even taste good," he remarked.

She blushed a dark shade of red and slapped the back of his head. He furrowed his eyebrows at her and a vein started showing on his forehead. "Why did you do that for, midget?!" He growled.

"You deserved that," she retorted haughtily.

"What did I do?" he demanded.

"That's for sleeping on me last night," she smirked at him and cupped his face with her soft pale hands, giving him a gentle kiss.

He blinked back at her then grinned slyly at her. "Is that so?" He whispered huskily. His eyes shining with what Rukia could only identify as lust, as he slowly took off his haori and pinned her under him.

Rukia shot him an equally needy look and allowed him to do all the work. She would sit back and enjoy herself but first. "Wait! Not here, let's go to my room," she urged him before he did something that would make her go high wire.

"Sure." He spooned her in his large strong arms and made sure to take whatever pieces of clothes she and he were not wearing. Of course, he didn't mind the fact that she's half naked in his arms but obviously she did. As she explained to him that if her clothes were to be found like that, suspicion would rise and that would cause a serious problem.

After a series of wrong turns because -as Rukia liked to describe- Ichigo wouldn't let her concentrate on finding her room and would keep on distracting her with his passion-filled kisses. Finally arriving at the right door, the orange-haired man slammed it open almost crushing it which earned him a glare from the woman in his arms.

He closed the door with the heel of his foot after entering and quickly locating the comfy mattress of the Kuchiki princess. He gently placed her on top of the white cottony mattress and leaned in to take another kiss. That one was slower and gentler unlike the filled-with-passion kisses or the hasty ones.

It was a toe curling kiss as she would love to describe it. She felt all the emotions in that one kiss. And she had to say that something about it didn't feel right. Something that resembled guilt and worry felt fresh in that one kiss.

She frowned a little as she focused more on deciphering the meanings behind that kiss. He was like asking for her forgiveness but for the life of her she couldn't think of something wrong he did that hurt her. She noticed Ichigo pulling a little to allow their poor deprived lungs some air. His forehead touched hers as their panted breaths were mingled together.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" She implored as her soft small hands cupped his face. He tried to avoid looking at her concerned pools of violet but her hands kept guiding him to look at her. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on her swollen lips.

"Rukia.......you probably won't like this," he confessed, his head bowed down and try as she might she couldn't make him look at her.

Silence took hold of the room's atmosphere as tension rose thickly between the two. Only the sound of their breaths was heard. "What are you not telling me?" Her eyes pleaded him to look at her and tell her what the hell was wrong. She couldn't bear the thought that he was hiding something from her. She forced him to look at her by putting her hand under his chin and raising his bowed head.

"I can't stay here much longer," he whispered, careful not to disturb the silence that erupted between them. His eyes showed no room for conversation, he took his decision and he was determined to go through with it.

On the other hand, Rukia coaxed herself into remaining calm and wait for him to explain himself. Her face betrayed no emotion as it stayed as impassive and blank as ever. The only thing that she feared was Ichigo's ability to read through her mask and crack her shell.

She lived in the same house as him, in the same room with him for a good amount of time. He had been with her through thick and thin. He had always been able to know what she had been thinking and know exactly what he had had to do in order to make her smile again.

And she had no doubt that he would be able to that again at that moment. He's going to read through her mask but no one could blame her for trying, now could they?

She looked at the side where her window looked back at her and remained silent, waiting for his next move. His strong hand touched the tip of her chin, asking her to look at him and not to ignore him. Her sharp eyes defied his own hazel ones.

"I have to go, this is for your own good," he mumbled.

"What do you mean, 'my own good'?" She asked him cautiously, narrowing her orbs at him.

Ichigo sighed and leaned away from her a little to sit and stare at the ceiling, something felt really interesting about it at that moment. "Do you remember the Arrancar from before?" He started casually, still looking at the ceiling above.

"Yes," she replied while looking at him incredulously. Where did he want to go with that question? Although, she lived with him in the same house for such a long time, Ichigo had his moments where she couldn't understand the meaning behind his words. They weren't frequent and scarcely did she ever miss his point.

It looked like that moment was one of his moments when he could be a little mysterious.

"When I first fought him and lost, he kind of didn't like that. So now, I'm obliged to fight against him at my full power," he explained softly.

"Is that his objective?" She asked him cautiously while studying his face.

"Yes."

"There's something else, isn't there? You're hiding something from me."

"Well...he threatened to kidnap you if I didn't fight him at full power. He set a deadline and it was after one month. I believe that the time limit is nearing and I have to return back to Karakura. No one knows what he'll do to it if I'm not there." By the time Ichigo turned his face to look at the raven-haired next to him, a slap marred his face and caused him to turn his face to the side because of its sheer force.

"You idiot! How many times do I have to tell you that I do NOT need you protecting me?! I'm fully capable of protecting myself, I've lived ten times more than you have and I've fought thousands of hollows and defeated them! Why can't you understand that you should only worry about yourself?!" She rebuked harshly. Her eyes glowing with the ecstasy of the rage that boiled in her.

His orange bangs covered his eyes as his head turned slowly. "Because I care about you more than anything else in the world," he whispered softly. His voice barely audible if it wasn't for the silence that enveloped them again.

"You're all that I have left. There's no one else but you. All of my friends and family are dead now and you're the only person that I care about so much to the point that I'm willing to risk losing my life, soul and freedom in trade for your safety, Rukia," he mumbled under his breath as he steadily lifted his head to show _vulnerability_.

Rukia could only stare at him with a shocked expression. She had never seen him so fragile and broken like that sans that one time when he had lost all the people dear to him. Her heart wrenched in her chest as she felt a huge pang of guilt suffocating her.

She looked away and for the first time, she felt ashamed of slapping him like that. She knew that he only meant well but that didn't help in keeping her indignation in check, in fact it only served in ruffling her more. He still thought that she needed him to protect her and still didn't realize that she only wanted to stand by his side and not behind him.

"I'm sorry for slapping you," Rukia's voice sliced through the silence like a sharp knife. Yet she didn't look at him.

"Sure," he replied, absentminded. Staring at the floor beneath him, "I just want you to know that whatever happens I.....uh." Ichigo stopped himself mid-sentence as he thought about the next words he's going to say. It was still awkward to say them to her. He noticed the raven-haired princess stare at him curiously.

"You are what?" She ushered him to continue.

"I...will always....um...love you." His face almost instantly turned a bright shade of red. He turned his back to her to hide his flushed face from her view.

"I will always love you too," she whispered softly. Crawling on all four to reach him, she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, pulling him into an embrace. She buried her face deep into his orange hair and took in his masculine scent. No matter what, she wouldn't get sick of his smell.

Ichigo looked a little taken aback by her sudden action at first but then he leaned into her and inhaled her nice scent. She smelled like lavender, his eye lids would drop lazily from time to time every second he inhaled her lovely smell.

He felt safe around her, she was his sanctuary where he would always relax and feel at ease. She's the only person that could understand him and he felt lucky to have her.

He freed himself from her embrace and turned around to kiss her fully on the lips. One hand entangled itself in her raven hair, relieving in its silky feeling while the other pushed her head further to deepen their kiss more.

One of Rukia's hands found itself playing with Ichigo's wild orange hair as the other one touched his chest, memorizing every part of it, from the nasty scars to the well-toned muscles. Now that Rukia thought about it, it's the first time she had touched his chest.

It felt soft but also strong and defined just like its owner. The well-toned muscles served as an evident to his strength. She ran her hand over his arm and felt the muscles moving underneath her cool touch. Her face flushed a little as her hand moved lower down his back.

Ichigo pulled back from the kiss and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"This isn't fair. Why do I get to be the one almost absolutely naked?" She questioned him with a raised eyebrow and all he could do was: give her a knowing smirk. She felt a little bit wary of him at first but then smirked back.

"You're right," he agreed as he moved to take his clothes off but Rukia beat him to it. As she worked on stripping him, his hands found their way to her body to finish their work in completely taking her clothes off.

-

To Be Continued....

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Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or the characters in it.

**I bet that you have noticed that I'm a bad writer when it comes down to writing M chapters. But I had to do it for the sake of the story. Maybe someone can help me in this department?**

**Reviews are always appreciated!**

**~KWF~**


	10. Goodbye

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**-**

**Chapter ten**

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Rukia mumbled incoherent curses under her breath as she grumpily sat up on her soft mattress. Her eyes barely able to stay open as she fought the urge to succumb to her body's wishes and fall into deep slumber. She hated that, hated everything about everything around her.

She hated the stupid cheerful birds that were singing noisily outside her window, hated the stupid sun for waking her up with its stupid overly shiny rays of light. She wondered briefly why the hell her window allowed the rays of light to enter her room in the first place. She put one hand over her eyes in a protective manner and gazed hard at the window for a moment before slumping back in defeat, burying her head into her soft pillow.

She took a deep breath then jerked back to stare at her pillow like it was some kind of an alien. Remembering who had slept on it before, she relaxed and buried her head back into the pillow. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the familiar masculine scent which still lingered on the smooth fabric of her pillow. She almost allowed a small smile to play on her lips before remembering the reason behind her grumpy mood.

And to say that Rukia was annoyed and slightly angry before would be an understatement.

An image of her orange-haired lover flashed in front of her mind's eye. He looked so handsome that she felt herself almost melting at his sight before she quickly caught herself and pulled her wits together.

Even if only his image made her feel like that, she still hated him, hated everything about him. Well...not everything, she still loved his intoxicant genuine smile that was reserved for her, for only _her_. And still loved the way he made slow passionate love to her.

Yesterday was a day that she would never forget. She would make sure to sketch the day's events into her mind and keep her memory bank from toying around with it. She loved how they made love passionately; forgetting about the time and how early it was to do such a thing, especially when she had paperwork to do, back in her division. And surely her absence would be noticeable.

But of course, Ichigo never cared about trivial things as paperwork and brushed her worries aside as he brought her down to her peek, giving her the sweet moment of experiencing her maybe first true orgasm?

She wasn't one to play around like Matsumoto. Sure the blonde-strawberry-haired shinigami had offered on more than one occasion her help in those matters and had emphasized on the fact that she was willing to share with her, her experiences in the sex realm but Rukia wasn't one to actually be that out-going as her friend.

Of course, Matsumoto's invitations weren't always focused solely on her, as Hinamori also had her fair share of knowledge. Rukia learned that her brown-haired friend wasn't one to refuse anything because she cared too much about other people's feelings and that was her downfall, or maybe not?

At a later time, it was publicly known that Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toushirou were officially going out and Rukia could only look in awe at the pair. At that moment, she knew that Matsumoto's knowledge and experience could come in handy at a later time but she didn't want to indulge herself in the realms of dating and sex just yet.

Rukia sobered out of her thoughts and her annoyance rushed back full force. And back to the topic; Rukia hated everything at that moment, and if one thing Rukia hated the most, it was the feeling of being brushed aside as a weakling and incompetent warrior when it came down to protecting herself.

Even though, Ichigo had never said that out in the open or in her face, she felt it from the way he spoke to her yesterday. When he said that he wanted to go back to the living world. Although he explained the reason behind his over protectiveness; that he didn't want to experience the loss of his important friends ever again.

And most of all that he never wanted to lose _her_; because she was far too precious and important.

_Because he loved her... _

But still, Rukia hated the feeling of being protected; she wanted to stand by his side and not behind him. She desired him to share his burdens with her, to let her in, the same she had let him into her hard shell of a heart. She wanted to be always with him, through thick and thin, through death and living.

Rukia heaved a sigh of exasperation, feeling too tried to think anymore. She already had to give her noble brother an explanation and a believable excuse as to why strange sounds and voices were coming from her room. She blamed it all on one person, she told him to quit doing things to her because her brother would be back home at any minute but as always, her complaints were muffled by his pressed mouth against her own.

She had to think of something quick before her brother discovered the reason behind the strange sounds.

Today was already proving to be a bad day for Rukia.

XXXXXX

Ichigo sauntered around in Seireitei, with only one person in his mind; _Rukia._

He wanted to exploit his remaining time there and stay with her as much as possible. He wouldn't say 'without rising any suspicious' because he could hardly give a damn about anyone's opinion. They could all burn themselves in hell or blow up out of anger for all he cared.

Stuffing his hands into his hakama's pockets, he continued thinking about the wonderful time he spent with his raven-haired lover yesterday. It was the most enjoyable and passionate love making he had ever experienced in his life. Not that he had actually experienced anything like that before.

He was both surprised and satisfied with the way he handled Rukia yesterday. He couldn't believe that he was actually a virgin until he did the unthinkable with her. He only acted on pure instinct, letting himself be devoured by pleasure and act upon it without really thinking about what he was doing.

He loved the way she felt underneath him, her soft, small yet well endowed breasts pressing against his own chest's muscles. He remembered the feeling of her smooth soft breasts as he cupped them in the palm of his hands and could only think how they fit perfectly in his hands.

Ichigo let a sigh of pleasure escape his mouth as he relished in the memories of last morning's events. He wasn't planning on letting yesterday's events be a memory because he would make sure to have another taste of her creamy body. And his partner in his pants couldn't agree more.

All except for one little event: the one when she threw him out of the mansion after he had managed to get her brother's attention when he finally came back home. He grimaced at the memory and couldn't stop his hand from touching the spot where her foot had made contact with his ass.

That woman was strong and he had to be careful and gentle with her if he wanted to keep his head attached to his neck.

XXXXXX

"Good morning, Kuchiki! Had a wonderful time yesterday?" Rukia twirled her head so quickly that she thought that if she did that again any quicker, her neck would surely break. Her eyes were wide with mortification.

"Ah, don't look so surprised Kuchiki-san, everyone is talking about what happened yesterday." Kiyone tried to hide her giggle behind her hand as Sentarou smirked at the surprised noble.

"What is it that they're talking about?" Rukia inquired cautiously. Maybe they were talking about something else and not about her wonderful time with a certain orange-haired fool. Rukia felt the need to know everything first before she started denying anything thrown in her way. She didn't want to look like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You know, something about a certain substitute shinigami and a raven-haired noble having a little time of their own," Kiyone said casually as if the gossip didn't concern the person in front of her. A ghost of a smirk betraying her thoughts as she looked at Rukia's stupefied expression.

Rukia could only watch in horror as the two third-seats of her division started teasing her about something she didn't even think that was possible to be revealed so soon. It looked like nothing could be kept as a secret in Soul Society to her utter dismay. Now what should she do if those rumors were to reach her Nii-sama? She would surely be in for some scolding, or maybe the silent treatment?

She could never guess when it came down to her brother. Something inside her clenched in fear for her orange-haired lover. Naturally, she feared the consequences of her irresponsible actions with Ichigo, but what made her shift nervously on her feet was the knowledge that if those rumors were to ever reach the captain-commander, Ichigo would be in a very deep trouble.

For the relationship between a shinigami and a human was frowned upon and was considered as a taboo. Ichigo's father; Isshin, had to had known that and Rukia had a sneaking suspicion that he had abandoned his rank as a captain and left Soul Society because of that.

Kiyone stopped talking when she noticed how pale Rukia turned and how her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish with nothing coming out. "Kuchiki-san, are you okay?" Kiyone waved a hand in front of Rukia's face, worry painting her features.

Rukia turned her eyes slowly to look at the woman next to her. "I-I'm fine. Who also knows about this?" The raven haired woman narrowed her eyes incredulously and waited impatiently for a reply.

Kiyone could only blink in surprise at the sudden change of her friend's voice. Rukia's icy voice sliced through the teasing air like a sharp knife.

Seeing his companion in a confused state, Sentarou decided to interrupt and clear things out. "By now, nearly all of the shinigami."

Rukia felt her blood run cold and just when she was about to throw a fit and demand the person who started that gossip, a blur of orange caught her attention.

"Yo!" Ichigo saluted with a grin on his face.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-san," the two third-seat shinigami answered simultaneously with raised hands in a salute way. Ichigo only nodded at them as a sweat drop trailed down his forehead. Seriously, those two freaked him out sometimes.

"C'mon Rukia, I want to show you something." He flashed her one of his rare genuine smiles that helped her forget all about everything else for a moment as she smiled at him gently. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the open window in the division, finding it the easiest way to get out of there.

He put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, earning himself an evident red blush from the raven haired woman in his arms. Ignorant to the knowing stares Sentarou and Kiyone were giving him, he flash stepped through the window, with Rukia pressed against him.

The gentle breeze ruffled his orange hair, making it even spikier than before. As Rukia's raven silky hair swayed gracefully. Rukia buried her flushed face deep into Ichigo's chest, relishing in the scent that she couldn't grow bored of.

She felt safe and like nothing really mattered in the world. All of her cares were swapped with warmth and a sense of tranquility. She closed her eyes, shutting everything out and concentrating solely on the person near her.

Clutching on his black shinigami robes like her life depended on it. She felt the need and desire to value every moment she spent with her orange-haired lover. A feeling in the pit of her stomach warned her not to get too attached to him because instinct told her that something bad was about to occur. And god only knew that her heart couldn't take much hurt.

A tear slipped unnoticed and was swiped away by the warm breeze caressing her cheeks like a gentle hand.

"We're here." Ichigo gently put Rukia down and looked at her. He observed her breath-taking orbs as they surveyed the place in awe. The orange-haired man wanted to show her the secret place which Urahara had built, back in the old days; the one that served him in his days in Soul Society.

He was so caught up in staring at her violet pearls that he almost neglected the other parts her face accommodated.

He chuckled inwardly, his hazel nut eyes continued on giving her beautiful face the attention that it sought from his appraising gaze. His hand moved on its own accord as it yearned to feel the smooth creamy skin of his companion. He sighed in content and cupped her cheeks with both of his hands and pulled her closer to him.

His eyes straining to keep looking at her angelic features until they strayed towards her slightly-parted mouth, her full rosy lips that sent him high wire just from looking at them. Unconsciously, his fingers brushed her smooth lips and he could immediately feel desire welling up in him. He was so captivated in her magic spell that he didn't notice her penetrating gaze fixed on him.

"S-so, this is the place where you used to train, huh?" Her voice crackled with nervousness as she fought a losing battle for control over her newly-found desire.

He only nodded before dipping his head into the crook of her neck and trailing hot kisses along her pale skin till he reached her earlobe, sparing it some of his attention before whispering something into her ear. "Why don't we have some fun?"

Rukia could've sworn she heard the smirk in his voice before he pinched her ass in a teasing manner and shunpo-ed away from her. Rukia was left standing with a stunned expression until her mind processed what happened. A vein throbbed visibly on her forehead as she vowed to pay him back.

"You're so dead, Ichigo!" She shouted in aggravation. Her voice recoiled back to her before she heard a laugh coming from behind a huge rock. She marched towards it with confident steps and unsheathed her Zanpakutou; Sode No Shirayuki. She sliced the huge rock vertically, causing it to split into two great pieces and fall onto the rocky ground with a loud thud.

Revealing behind it a man with unruly orange-hair tying to muffle his chuckles, he looked up to see two violet crystals looking back at him with a smug look. He smirked before shunpo-ing away once again, that time the wind carried his voice to Rukia's ear.

"Catch me if you can."

A smile tugged at the corners of Rukia's lips before she shunpo-ed too, following the blurs of orange she often saw. After a few attempts of trying to catch him, she stopped and bent down to catch her breath. She noticed him stopping too and waiting for her with a smug look on his face. Oh how much she wanted to wipe that look off his face.

She sat on the ground, and refused to acknowledge his gaze. Well, if she couldn't beat him in a battle of speed then she would have to use her wits and beat him with her brains. She noted his hesitant steps towards her but still insisted on ignoring him until he got close enough for her to catch him.

He stood a few feet away from her and taunted her. "Did you give up so easily? C'mon Rukia, I know that even for a midget like you, you're faster than this." His smirk only widened as he watched her form stiffen in irritation.

But Rukia stubbornly ignored him; he sighed and took a few cautious steps towards her.

The minute Rukia sensed that he was close enough for her taste; she bounced on him and toppled him to the ground. With a triumphant smile, she sat on top of his chest and looked at him with smugness that made his blood boil.

"Hey that's so unfair!" He complained as he tried to push her away from him even though he loved the feeling of her body against his. "You tricked me."

"I did not trick you. You assumed that I gave up while I was merely taking a rest." She looked at him with glee shinning in her eyes.

"Why you sneaky little---" Ichigo didn't get to finish his sentence as Rukia's foot made contact with his face. A vein made itself known on his forehead, swatting her foot away; he glared at her with intensity.

"Oops sorry, I mistook your face for the ground." She smirked at him before bending down, her hot breath tickling his face and for a moment all of his anger was gone as a lustful look took its place. He licked his lips unconsciously.

"Your turn now, come and get me," she whispered in a dangerously low voice before leaving him in a dumbfounded state.

Her laughter filled the place and acted like music to his ears as he pulled himself together and stood on strong feet. He shunpo-ed after her, determined to find her no matter what.

He never thought that catching her would be that difficult since he outdid her in terms of speed but he blamed it all on one thing; she was petite and short therefore was a bit harder to catch. He decided to hide behind a rock and mask his reiatsu as well as he could. He would observe her as she sauntered around like she owned the place before jumping on her.

Standing back like a tiger waiting for his prey to be open for attacks, he licked his lips in anticipation. Rukia seemingly oblivious to the predatory gaze fixed on her form, sat on a large stone, observing her surroundings with critical eyes. Body tense and ready for any attempts at catching her, she wouldn't go down that easily.

Ichigo couldn't believe his luck; there she was sitting, full of openings. He flash stepped with every intention of catching her. He smirked when his hands finally encircled her small waist and pulled her against him, making her squeak out of surprise.

Rukia didn't know how he managed to catch her but she was pleased nonetheless as she was getting sick of having to run away from him. She craved for his touch and desired to taste his lips and push them against hers, to feel his hot body flushed against hers.

XXXXXX

Rukia let out a soft moan as she dipped herself in the hot spring. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm water massaging her tired muscles. So that was where Ichigo used to bathe and heal his wounds after every training session with Zangetsu.

Urahara was a true genius for creating such a huge place like that and was even the best for not forgetting about placing a hot spring to be used after every training session. She opened her eyes to gaze at Ichigo but found no trace of him. She looked around her, trying to know where in the world he went when he could be soaking himself in the soothing water.

She heaved a sigh of exasperation and decided to look for him. It was no use being alone in there when they both could be sharing it. A sly smile spread over her lips and her annoyed expression turned into a mischievous one.

The minute she was out of the pool of steaming water and was about to grab her shinigami robes and bindings, two strong arms trapped her and a husky low voice whispered into her ear, "Missed me that much?"

"You wish." Rukia could feel goose bumps traveling across her skin, his hot breath tickling the crook of her neck and she couldn't help a shiver from running down her spine. She bit her lower lip and tried to turn and face him but he held her in her place and refrained her from moving.

Ichigo's heart raced with desire, the smooth, soft skin of Rukia's body pressed against him made his mind unclear and his hazel eyes clouded with lust and desire. The only thing that stood between them was the black layer of clothes covering his body.

His hands moved on their own accord, his calloused fingers tracing invisible lines on Rukia's naked body, starting from her shoulder blades and reaching to her stomach, drawing random patterns around her navel in a teasing manner.

He felt Rukia arch her body and press it against his own, a sigh of pleasure escaping from her delicate rosy lips. Ichigo smirked and bent his head to rain hot-wet kisses on the white skin of her neck. His mouth sucking on her pulse and making her tilt her neck to the side for better access. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought about doing that to Rukia.

"When did you learn to do that?" Rukia breathed softly. She felt Ichigo's chest moving indicating that he was chuckling and she couldn't help but smile.

"I guess that necessity is the mother of invention," he answered her truthfully.

"True," she agreed and leaned against his masculine chest, attempting to take in as much warmth his body offered as possible.

"Why don't you wait for me in the hot spring? I don't want you to get cold." He gave her a knowing smirk and released her from his trap.

Rukia immediately regretted the loss of warmth and wanted nothing but to snuggle against him but she knew better than to do that. He would tease her till he deemed that it was enough, and she knew that he'd never get bored of doing that.

She nodded and indulged herself into the water waiting for her. She felt her muscles relax upon contact and wondered how her muscles would react when her lover joined her and touched her with his gentle hands.

She averted her attention from the pleasure of her muscles to the person standing before her, licking her lips in anticipation. He smirked at her and slowly almost teasingly untied the black robes and let them fall open. He took off the black haori and let it fall to the rocky ground, revealing at the same moment a fair amount of well-toned muscles.

Next, he started shedding down his hakama pants, letting them fall on the ground in a disarrayed pile of clothes and revealing his erection. Tentatively, he dipped his toes into the hot water as if testing the temperature before joining Rukia. She was leaning her head against the rocks that surrounded the hot spring, observing him with eager eyes. Her eyes spoke volumes of what she wanted and Ichigo couldn't help but smile wickedly at her.

He captured her lips with his and pressed her against the rocks that formed a wall, at the same time careful so as not to inflict hurt upon her. He didn't want her pretty soft back to be scratched because of one simple kiss.

The raven-haired Kuchiki allowed him to maneuver his tongue inside her mouth, exploring it all over again. Although, she knew that by now, he had already memorized every part of her mouth better than anyone else.

As Ichigo's tongue busied itself playing with Rukia's, his hands found their own way and cradled small perky breasts. Each moan Rukia uttered was swallowed by the kiss and never got the chance to voice its existence.

Ichigo pulled back a little to give their poor lungs a very much needed air, but placed his forehead against hers, a smile gracing his perfect lips. Rukia's face was flushed and her pants tickled Ichigo's face, feeding his desire to claim her lips again.

He sucked on her lower lip, distracting her from his wandering hands. As one hand decided to grab the back of her thigh and lift her gracefully so her chest would be facing his face. Rukia yelped in surprise and held on to the orange locks of hair. Ichigo only smirked at her before he allowed his tongue to run in the valley of her perky breasts, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine and extracting a moan out of her throat.

The raven-haired woman arched her chest forward, craving for more warmth and skin-to-skin contact. That felt amazing, never like anything she had experienced before. Sure she had sex with him yesterday but she figured that he had to be getting better at doing it with each time. He knew all her weak points and carved them deep into his memory.

He knew what move or twirl of tongue would make her lose it and reach over the edge. He just took so much fun in sending waves of unbearable pleasure through her body, making her squirm underneath him or -in that condition, against him-.

He loved the feeling of her small yet satisfying breasts against his own muscled chest. Loved the feeling of his hand running through her silky raven hair, loved the delicious taste of her when he for the first time had the honor of experiencing the most intoxicating flavor. Loved how she would tilt her neck just for him to rain her soft skin with hot kisses, making her moan his name over and over until her throat ached from the over use of her voice.

He just loved her far too much for his own good and he knew it. It would destroy her when he would decide to finally leave Soul Society to fight the dark Arrancar. He didn't even know if his departure would be a two way ticket or a one way. But deep down, he only thought positive thoughts because he knew the state she would be in, if he were not to come back; if he were to die and leave her alone.

Stopping all of his actions suddenly, he released his hold on her thigh and embraced her with so much force that Rukia had to struggle to get free.

"Ichigo, you're chocking me. What's gotten into you?" She tried to push him away but he was holding her tightly, making it known that all of her efforts were futile.

Rukia finally gave in and surrendered to his chocking embrace, not knowing what to do except to embrace him back and sooth his wet hair in a calming manner.

Ichigo buried his face deep into her neck, inhaling her sweet scent and memorizing it. He didn't know what had gotten into him, but he knew one thing and that he should make the best of his time in showing her how much he loved her while she's still sober and not dizzy with lust or pleasure.

"I love you," he whispered softly into her ear before pulling back to stare at her dazzling violet orbs. He kissed her forehead then kissed her cheek before ending his kisses with a last pick on her swollen lips.

Rukia was surprised at first, but then she relaxed herself and held on to him just as tightly. She loved him although their relationship was frowned upon and that if it was to be discovered, they would be in a very deep trouble but she threw cautious out of the window and made her mind up to spend her time with him.

"I love you too," she whispered back, her smile showing in her tone.

Ichigo pulled back and smoothed her hair before giving her his cocky smirk and diving to capture her lips and taste her again.

His hand traveled down her stomach, teasing her navel to reach her hips and straddle them against him. Rukia grind her hips against his groin making him groan in pleasure. His hands automatically held her hips and stopped them from moving.

"Rukia....you're.....making this...harder," he panted as she kept grinding herself against him.

"That's the point," she simply told him.

He flashed her a smirk before letting his hand go dangerously low and touch her pink folds, twirling a finger around it teasingly.

Rukia felt a wave of pleasure run through her, taking away all reason and logic in its wake. Unconsciously, she arched herself towards his finger, pressing herself, dying to fill the emptiness in her. Fire started in the pit of her stomach.

Ichigo ran his finger around her clit, pinching it and feeling her liquid arousal soaking his fingers even though they were in the water. Desire coursed through her and her nails dug deeper into his back with each stroke he gave her. She panted and held tightly onto him as one wave of pleasure followed by the other attacked her. She felt him pull his finger away from her and she licked her lips in anticipation, aching for the emptiness to be filled.

"You ready?" He purposely teased her, knowing that he would probably get smacked on the back of his head later for asking her such a question.

"Do I need to tell you," she strained.

"I want you to tell me what you want, I want you to beg for me," he let his finger travel down again and tease her.

"I-Ichigo." She pressed herself against him and dug her nails deeper into his back.

"Beg for me," he whispered huskily.

"P-please, I want you inside," she struggled to say.

He flashed her a smirk before thrusting into her, each thrust carrying an unimaginable amount of pleasure. Rukia moaned loudly, not restraining herself because she knew that no one would be hearing her while Ichigo groaned in the back of his throat.

His pace quickened with each passing second, driving Rukia mad and over the edge, as her moans made his blood boil and his lust increase. He kissed her hungrily, devouring her and tasting her, taking into consideration to caress every corner of her mouth.

"I think I'm coming," she told him, blinding pleasure assaulting her.

A moment later, Rukia felt herself go over the edge, her vision flashed the color of white as orgasm hit her stronger than before. She also felt Ichigo reach over the top as he buried his face into her neck and let out a groan of satiate and content.

Her feminine muscles clamped over his member and he couldn't help but release.

Feeling his seed rush into her womb like a warm river. She moaned into his shoulder and held on to him tightly, afraid that her knees would fail her and buckle under the strain of pleasure.

XXXXXX

"Oi, midget! Are you done yet?" Ichigo scratched his head, annoyed that he was, for the second time, kicked out.

"Can't you wait for a moment, strawberry!" Rukia yelled at him as she walked up to him and stomped on his foot.

The substitute shinigami hopped around on his other foot while nursing his injured foot and glaring daggers at the shinigami before him. Rukia gave him a smirk of triumph before saying, "And I'm not a midget." She gave him her back while crossing her arms over her chest.

"I still don't get why you don't want to dress in front of me," Ichigo grumbled from behind.

"None of your business," she replied back.

"It's not like I haven't seen an---OWW!" He bent down to calm the throbbing pain in his shin.

"Shut up," she ordered him.

Ichigo could only comply, worried about his health more than anything else. He didn't want to suffer any more bruises than he already had. He was so wrapped around her small finger and he knew it. It's not like he could do anything other than mutter curses under his breath about how she's a bitch or how she's a stupid midget, though, that too would always get him into trouble.

Rukia straightened her shinigami robes one last time to make sure that nothing was wrong with her appearance before looking back at him.

"Let's get going." She gestured for him to follow her and follow her he did.

Upon stepping foot outside the isolated area, Rukia gasped in awe. "It's already night." She looked back at Ichigo and raised one delicate eyebrow.

He only smirked at her and moved past her before stealing a kiss away from her. "Last one is a rotten egg, midget!" With a flash, he was out of her sight, Rukia growled in anger before following him, she noticed a tree with lots of branches up ahead and she took the opportunity to grab one long branch and throw it at the man in front of her.

"What the hell, Rukia?!" Ichigo slowed down as the branch hit him clearly in the head. He could already feel a bruise forming. Talk about being cautious not to make the midget angry at him.

She shunpo-ed past him with a smug look on her face and Ichigo tried to catch her but every time his hand was about to get a hold of her, she would either flung her arm at him, catching him cleanly in the nose or throw something at him. Either way, he would feel pain.

Soon enough, they found themselves standing in front of the Kuchiki estate. Rukia smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks for everything, Ichigo." She smiled softly at him.

"Anytime, midget," he said without looking at her. Pain shot through his foot and he could only mumble curses and throw a death glare at the smug-looking-shinigami.

"You deserved it," she said.

After easing the pain a little to make it at least bearable so he could stand on his injured foot. He smiled genuinely at her; he pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly before whispering. "I want you to know that I will always love you no matter what." He kissed her forehead then let her go.

"Good night." He waved his hand from behind his shoulder while walking away.

"Good night," Rukia whispered, too shocked to raise her voice. She didn't know why, but it felt like that was the last time she would see him again. A nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach kept telling her to go and hold him and to never let him go because that might be the last time she would get to see his unique orange hair, his permanent blasted scowl, his genuine smile that was preserved only for her and feel his soft lips against hers.

She put her hands over her racing heart as she watched him fade into the darkness of the night. His hands were deeply stuffed into his hakama pants.

XXXX

Ichigo walked slowly towards his target, Zangetsu firmly tugged against his back, the white wrapping around its hilt swaying with the gentle breeze. He did the right thing, sure he told her that he would be leaving to the living world but he didn't tell her when. He didn't want her to come after him. No, that would put her in so much danger and he wasn't willing to take the chance.

He's going to end that by himself without anyone's help except for his Zanpakutou; Zangetsu. Her warmth and sweet scent still hung on his black robes and he used everything to keep his feet moving away from her.

Into Karakura Town.

-

To be continued.....

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Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and never will.

**A/N: I hope that you've enjoyed the nice fluff because it's not going to stay like this forever. Thanks a lot for all of your wonderful reviews, you all have made my day.**

**Reviews are always welcomed.**

**Next time:**

"_You lied to me! Let her go!"_

"_Life is not fair, shinigami."_

"_You're coming with us, Kurosaki Ichigo."_

_"RUKIA!!"_

**All in 'Half Alive'**

**~KWF~**


	11. Half Alive Part 1

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

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**Chapter eleven – part one**

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"Oi Renji, wake up."

The man in question stirred a little as he mumbled something under his breath about not wanting to go to work just yet. He turned on his other side, hoping to get away from the source of his annoyance.

"Dammit, would you just wake up?!" Ichigo hissed angrily, pulling the blanket which Renji held on like his life depended on it away, allowing it to cover the floor instead of the red-haired man.

The red-haired shinigami awoke with a start, looking sleepily around him until his eyes rested on the familiar patch of hair and blasted scowl. He growled in irritation and rubbed his droopy eyes rather roughly. He glared at the unwanted person for a minute before asking him angrily, "What the hell do you want? And why are you in my room?"

"I want you to do something for me," Ichigo answered seriously, taking into consideration to keep his voice as low as possible, the walls had ears after all.

Furrowing his eyebrows a little, Renji sighed heavily and ran his hand through his long red hair before calming himself. "What do you want? It's not about Rukia, is it?" He asked with equal seriousness.

"No, it's not about her. I want you to open the Senkai Gate for me," Ichigo said, his intense hazel eyes staring right through Renji's auburn sleepy ones.

Renji looked at Ichigo for a long moment, debating whether his friend was plain crazy or was simply joking. When he noted that neither was true, he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Why?" As simple as that, he asked. It's not like he actually cared but his curiosity got the best of him, besides, he would get in one hell of a big trouble for doing this so he needed a damn good excuse to face off the trouble. He could already smell it advancing towards him.

"I need to get back to Karakura Town," the orange-haired shinigami mumbled, the edge of hurriedness visible in his voice.

"Can't you tell Yamamoto- Sou-Taichou about this tomorrow?" Renji yawned before succumbing to his body's wishes and falling back on the comfortable mattress. Turning on his side to block the muttered curses behind him, his hand unconsciously reached for the blanket but for his utter dismay, he couldn't find it. Renji sighed heavily before burying his head under the pillow.

Ichigo growled in irritation before taking hold of the pillow hiding Renji's face and pulling it hard, throwing it away and letting it fall without a sound on the wooden floor next to the blanket. He pulled the sleeping shinigami by the collar of his pink robe, their faces were inches away.

"Listen to me, I don't have time to wait for tomorrow. So you either open up the gate willingly or I'll find some other way to make you do it," Ichigo whispered haughtily, his hot breath slamming the face of the sixth Fuku-taichou, "and by the way, what the hell are you wearing? Pink?!" He looked at him questioningly.

Renji didn't respond, still shocked from what happened. One minute his head was under the pillow and he was about to fall asleep again and the other he found himself held quite roughly by the collar of his robe. It took him some time to sober up and process what happened but when he did, his eyebrows were knitted together in a deep scowl.

His hands quickly shot up to hold Ichigo's wrists in a grip. "Let go of me, strawberry."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in anger before he reluctantly let go of Renji with a growl as he watched him straightening his robes as best as he could. "Are you going to help me or what?"

Ichigo didn't have the time to be messing around with Renji at that moment. His raging heartbeats were the only sound he could hear. The blood was rushing to his ears, rendering him deaf. The feelings of nervousness and worry were making themselves known by crumbling his composure and resolve.

His inner battle was on rampage inside his head; he wanted to go and get things done but at the same time, he wished to stay by Rukia's side forever. He wouldn't lie and say that the possibility of running away with Rukia from every threatening danger hadn't crossed his train of thoughts before.

Renji frowned when he noticed the desperate need in his friend's eyes; he looked so fragile, so vulnerable that it reminded the red-haired shinigami of the dreadful events. He counted two times when he saw that look; the first one had been when Ichigo got his ass handed to him on a silver platter by the fourth and tenth Espada.

The second time had been when his life turned upside down and he lost everything dear to him. That had been the most heart-wrenching moment Renji had ever gotten to see the ever-strong Kurosaki in that state, and now looking at him in that state made it the third time. Don't get him wrong, Renji didn't like to memorize his friend's downfalls. It was just that they didn't occur that often and it was hard to forget about them.

His shoulders drooped in defeat before sighing. "Fine," he replied. He knew he was going to regret doing this later on, but what the hell, he didn't care.

Quickly putting on his robes, he trotted towards the usually used Senkai gate with Ichigo hot on his trails. Chanting a few selected incantations, the Senkai gate opened and a blinding light of white shone. Renji turned to face the demanding-shinigami.

"You better not make me regret doing this," he smirked slightly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ichigo smirked back before he moved towards the red-haired man. He extended his right hand and waited for the other man to shake his extended hand.

Renji stared with surprise at the extended hand before looking at its owner. He noted that he was smiling softly at him before he shook the extended hand with a smile of his own.

They shook hands for the first time before Ichigo pulled him to a manly hug. "Take good care of Rukia for me," he whispered before letting the shocked tattooed man free, "thanks for everything." With that Ichigo strode towards the waiting gate and faded into the white nothingness.

Renji stared sadly at his right hand; the hand he used to shake Ichigo's. So Ichigo and Rukia had something going on between them, he suspected that much but he didn't allow his imagination to venture so much in that area. Although, he had told himself that he had already gotten over the fact that he was only a friend to Rukia, he could only find himself sad.

And what pained him more was the predictable state Rukia would be in if she would find out about what happened now. She would be broken, devastated and most of all angry. He was sure that her anger would beat all the other emotions. He could safely say that he would never envy the orange-haired idiot for the situation he would most probably be in when he would return.

He sighed before slowly making his way towards the sixth division's barracks. He didn't feel the need to hurry back to his place so he took his time in observing his surroundings. A sudden sharp pain invaded his senses; he didn't have the time to comprehend what was going on before he fell on the ground. He managed to see blood crimson irises looking at him coldly then everything turned cold and darkness surrounded him.

XXXX

The cool air of the night welcomed the orange-haired shinigami; the eerie and ominous feeling sent a shiver down his spine. He looked around him in anticipation, expecting the dark Arrancar to attack him at any moment.

He gripped the bandaged hilt of his Zanpakutou tightly and unsheathed Zangetsu, freeing it from the white wrappings. With each cautious step he took, he grew more and more nervous. A feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't settle well with him and he started doubting his decision.

Something was not right, Miedo was supposed to be there, waiting to kill him but there was no sign of any strong reiatsu, let alone any hollow. A cold sweat drop trailed down his cheek as he took a hesitant gulp.

His scowl deepened, he allowed his muscles to relax a little and took a deep calming breath, giving his brain the time to process everything before jumping to any conclusions. After a few long minutes, a crack in the sky made itself known; cutting the black sky into two disarrayed parts.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his Zanpakutou and waited, he could hear steady footsteps approaching before their owner appeared. He looked up to find the same cold red irises looking at him with an all mighty look; like he had already won the fight.

"You didn't disappoint me this time." His voice was calm and even that it made Ichigo shudder in distaste.

"I wasn't planning on creating a bad record," Ichigo smirked but kept his guard, ready to face any attack that would come his way. He would make sure not to repeat his old mistakes in his previous fights against that Arrancar.

"Good boy." The Arrancar's face displayed no emotions whatsoever but remained as impassive as ever.

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched slightly in irritation but he tried to keep himself calm, going on rampage would only serve his opponent's purpose and he wasn't planning on giving him an advantage since Ichigo knew that he was already at a disadvantage.

The orange-haired man didn't know anything about the Arrancar before him except for his name. His abilities were unknown to him but what made Ichigo tighten his grip on the hilt of his Zanpakutou in uneasiness, was the fact that Miedo reminded him so much of Ulquiorra. And the forth Espada wasn't exactly an opponent he wanted to fight again.

He remembered almost dying, fighting against him. But then again, he almost died fighting Aizen too. But the forth Espada was an unpleasant memory. He had been the reason why Ichigo and his friends had gone to Hueco Mundo; to Los Noches.

He shook his head to clear his mind of the never ending train of memories and locked his eyes on the figure floating above him. He gritted his teeth before vanishing and reappearing to stand behind the Arrancar, Bankai activated, his Zanpakutou held horizontally to slash his opponent with Tensa Zangetsu.

Miedo smirked before using sonido and disappearing in the midst of several sonido, every time showing up in a different place, with his smirk plastered on his face and his fists stuffed deeply into his hakama pants, before one hand started slowly inching outside of its residing place.

The orange-haired shinigami tried to keep his gaze locked on the dark Arrancar's moving figure, a sweat drop trailed down his cheek as he tensed when Miedo suddenly disappeared. Ichigo strained his senses to locate him. He closed his eyes and concentrated on only finding the hollow's reiatsu. He knew that he was no good when it came down to sensing other people's reiatsu but right now; he had to use everything he learnt in the past to defeat his enemy.

_There!_

He twirled to avoid an attack meant for his head coming from behind. A few orange hairs were cut; they fell soundlessly like feathers floating in the air. Ichigo swallowed his saliva when he saw another attack coming to cut his torso. He didn't have the time to dodge it completely so he opted to shield his torso with his hand.

Wincing at the feeling of the cold hand ripping through his tissues he quickly shunpo-ed away, creating some distance between them.

_Well, that didn't go so well…_

Ichigo knew that Miedo was fast but he didn't think that he was _that_ fast, he thought that he would be on an even scale of speed with him but apparently that wasn't the case. He didn't even know if Miedo was using his full power or not.

It'd been some time since he fought a strong enemy and Ichigo feared that he was going rusty. He had to act quickly or everything would soon be over. Black reiatsu with red edges flared around him, one hand covered his face, and his eyes could be seen through his fingers.

The black flames of the reiatsu surrounded Ichigo's hand; he pulled it against an invisible force before revealing a porcelain mask with red marks. Amber irises glowered with ferocity never experienced by an ordinary shinigami, the whiteness which once surrounded his irises turned into pitch black. His breath came out, visible to the bare eye in a smoky line.

He narrowed his eyes at his enemy before black reiatsu surrounded the black hilt of his Zanpakutou; the chains dangling from the hilt shook violently as the burst of reiatsu travelled from the hilt to the black metal. Ichigo suddenly shunpo-ed to stand in front of Miedo and released all the piling up reiatsu in one swift movement. "Getsuga Tenshou," he whispered.

Darkness enveloped everything and out of it stepped an orange-haired shinigami with his customary ragged robes. He surveyed the place with critical eyes, searching for any evidence that would lead to the dark Arrancar. Once the darkness cleared, a man with short black hair appeared, one cut marring his pale features, and his sleeves were ripped off to show his hollow bone hugging his wrist like a bracelet.

He made a motion of dusting himself before turning to look at the Vizard before him. "Nice work, you managed to destroy one my favorite outfits."

Ichigo's eyes turned into slits, his breathing turned into sharp intakes of air. His hand bled profuse amounts of blood, but he was oblivious to the pain and pressure it was causing to his body. He had only one objective and it was: kill his enemy.

He charged full force towards his enemy and noticed that Miedo was unsheathing his own Zanpakutou. It was like any other ordinary Zanpakutou except for the guard. It pulled him towards it like it was calling him. It looked like a bone, it was shaped like a head of something, Ichigo couldn't describe but the head held two red glowing orbs. It was captivating and it kept him a prisoner in its spell.

Blinding him from anything going on around him, he found himself charging towards the sharp tip of the sword, he tried to move and wring his body back into focus but he realized that it was too late. He winced at the sudden contact of the sharp metal as it pierced through his abdomen. He fought with his body to stop moving towards the guard of the Zanpakutou but failed.

He choked on blood, coughing it out; his mask slowly started crumbling around the edges to finally reveal one of his eyes as it changed back to its normal color. He looked up at the smirking face of Miedo with agony. He held on the bone guard and tried to push himself away from it but couldn't. His strength failed him. The metal of the Zanpakutou bore a hole in him, coming out from his back.

Miedo moved his Zanpakutou a little, causing the orange-haired man to wince in pain. The young Vizard felt his vision blurring; pain wracked his body every time the sword moved inside of him. Finally, the dark Arrancar decided to free Ichigo of his misery and with one swift movement, pushed him away.

The orange-haired man tried to stop himself from falling and held on the invisible floor in the sky. He stood on wobbling feet and took long deep breaths before his hand came up to fix the crack which marred his hollow mask.

Gripping Zangetsu tightly, he launched a Getsuga Tenshou, which was easily dodged by the Arrancar.

"Apparently, you're nothing but a weakling, Kurosaki Ichigo. You really disappoint me."

Ichigo glared with venom at the Arrancar and if looks could kill, Ichigo would've killed him on the spot. "Shut up," he growled, his voice coming out as a hollow echoing duplicate. He needed to win; he _had_ to win, if not for himself then at least for Rukia. He couldn't let her experience the hell he went through, he _wouldn't_.

He knew better than anyone what the loss of dear people did to one's sanity and heart. He'd been through the same pain far too many times and it had hurt every time. The pain was too great for him that he couldn't deny that he thought about suicide at one time and he didn't want Rukia to feel like that. He didn't wish to see the smile off her pretty little face, didn't want a permanent scowl to mar her delicate eyebrows. He wanted to see her beautiful smile again, hear the sound of her giggles like melody, relish in hearing her soft voice whenever she whispered his name when they made the most passionate love in his life and melt in her extraordinary violet orbs.

But facing that person now seemed to take everything away from him, stealing it cruelly and leaving him alone in the cold darkness to face the fear of his life; being alone. Just the thought of that, made shivers run down his spine and smack him back to reality.

His anger sent disarrayed puddles of bubbles in the sea of his thoughts, almost completely blinding him and stripping him off all the sanity and logic he had left. He felt his control slipping and in all honesty, he didn't give a damn at all.

He let out a heart-wrenching scream before charging head on. Miedo's eyes widened slightly but he still remained calm, he used his unoccupied hand and drew a horizontal line in a graceful manner. The horizontal line was painted in a light color of blue. It glowed brightly with intensity and anticipation, waiting for its caller to command it as it floated gracefully in the air.

With one swift motion of his hand, the line shattered and turned into hundreds of small blue needles. It flew towards its target with a screeching sound and embedded themselves in the flesh of the advancing shinigami.

Ichigo saw the attack coming but stubbornly kept on moving forward, not caring about the small needles invading his body and ripping through his skin, scratching it as some of them missed him by a few hairs. The pain they sent through him did nothing to decrease his speed, instead they encouraged him to give the dark Arrancar a taste of the pain he felt.

Miedo's crimson eyes widened, he readied himself for the upcoming attack, holding his Zanpakutou in front of him to meet Zangetsu. The force of the attack was nothing like what he'd expected; it was stronger, more aggressive like it was meant to slay him, to _kill_ him.

He gritted his teeth as he tried to push the orange-haired shinigami back and put some distance between them. That was dangerous and he had to stop him before things got out of hand. Sparkles of the metal clashing against metal glowed brightly like smaller versions of lightening. The screeching sound that the clashing metal produced filled the quiet night.

Two black flares of reiatsu met where the two Zanpakutou clashed; one with red flame edges while the other was pitch black like a swirl of the black hole. It was hard to know which one of them would be the winner when they both appeared to be standing on an equal footing.

Ichigo pushed harder, using all the strength he had left in his body, all the experience he had gained throughout his life as a substitute shinigami and all the pain and despair he felt, he let it all support him and give him the power he needed. In the center of it all, stood one thought in his mind; Rukia. He would never let harm even dare to touch her; both physically and mentally.

With a final yell of determination, he swatted the Arrancar's Zanpakutou away with force and for the first time, Zangetsu had the pleasure of tasting the blood of his enemy as it cut through Miedo's chest all the way from his right shoulder to his abdomen in a vertical slash. Blood splattered all over Ichigo's masked face, his golden eyes dimming slightly, he didn't seem to be disgusted by the feeling of the crimson blood on his hands, as a matter of a fact, he welcomed it so very much.

Miedo's hands quickly shot to grab Ichigo's collar and throw him away from him, letting him fall a few feet away from him. His hand trying to stop the blood gushing out of his chest wound, a line of the crimson blood marred his chin as it dripped from his mouth. He coughed out some of the red liquid which was piling in his mouth before he averted his blood shot irises at Ichigo.

"You, how dare you?!" He spat out in distaste, "I'll make you regret doing this to me, Kurosaki Ichigo!"

Ichigo simply stared at him as he slashed the air to get rid of the blood on Zangetsu. He felt himself go slightly dizzy and put his hand on his forehead to ease the waves of dizziness. He winced a little when he tried to move his injured hand and looked at it. It didn't look so good, it was covered in blood that he couldn't actually determine where the wound was.

He allowed his ivory mask to crumble and turn into small shattered pieces before disappearing, seeing no need to continue wearing it now. He leaned on his Zanpakutou, embedding it into the air of the sky and took a few ragged breaths. A chilling laugh echoed throughout the dark night, causing the orange-haired man to look up in surprise at its owner.

With a snap of Miedo's fingers, the night sky split into two and revealed an Arrancar. The new Arrancar stepped into view to show his face, he had his hollow bone on his chest like a shield protecting him from any attack, his hair was a simple color of dirty blond and he wore the costume wear for the Arrancar; the white robes.

He seemed to be pulling something and by the looks of it, that something wasn't quite cooperative. He saw the new Arrancar delivering a punch to the thing he seemed to be pulling.

A feeling in the pit of Ichigo's stomach told him that something wasn't right, something felt wrong and he didn't want to even try to figure it out, as a matter of a fact, he was too afraid to discover what it might be. He swallowed nervously as he waited to see what the Arrancar was pulling with him, with what looked like a long chain made of ivory bones.

At last, he saw it, the person's face, he saw it. His heart stopped in his chest and he couldn't breathe anymore, his eyes were so wide that a person would fear that they'd come out of their sockets.

"Why?" Ichigo's voice came out as a chocked whisper.

"Why, you ask? It's pretty simple; I didn't want your little lover over here to be worried about you so I brought her over," Miedo smirked in triumph, that Ichigo wanted nothing but to wipe that smirk off his face.

Taking in Rukia's shape to make sure that she wasn't hurt badly, he noticed the forming bruise on her cheek and remembered the Arrancar hitting her and by the looks of it, the punch wasn't all that delicate. Bony chains hugged her petite frame so tightly that Ichigo feared that they would break her; a dirty white piece of cloth covered her mouth to stop her from talking.

Her head hung down tiredly and her eyes were closed shut. The orange-haired man felt his anger rising and his voice coming back to life.

"You lied to me! Let her go!" His shout was so desperate that it seemed to be a cry of his heart.

"And here I thought that you would appreciate my hard work. What a shame," Miedo feigned innocence and hurt as he put one of his hands on his injured chest, wincing slightly at the contact.

"You liar!" Ichigo snarled before dashing full force at the dark Arrancar, not bothering to put his hollow mask on. He had one objective in his mind and nothing would stand in his way or stop him from achieving it; he was going to save Rukia and protect her like he always did and would always do.

A cold hand gripped his throat tightly with one fast graceful motion, knocking the air out of his lungs. He glared at Miedo with such hatred and intensity that no one before was on the delivering end of it.

"Life is not fair, shinigami," Miedo whispered near Ichigo's ear, "you better learn to accept this fact."

"But you gave me your word," Ichigo whined, he hated the way it came out like a child's protests and whines but if it brought Rukia back safely to his arms, he was willing to do _anything. _

_Where am I? _

Rukia stirred a little and cracked her eyes open to see nothing underneath her. She noted that she was on her knees and her hands were restrained behind her back by a rough material. She tried to wriggle free out of her restrains but failed. She heard someone talking and quickly looked up to see the form of her orange-haired lover dangling few feet away from her.

Her breath hitched and she had to swallow the lump that was slowly forming in her throat. "Ichigo," she whispered softly, her voice barely audible but it was enough to bring the attention of the two fighting men.

"Rukia…"Ichigo chocked out and winced a little when the grip around his neck tightened.

Rukia saw him, saw him wincing and heard him chocking on her name. She felt her eyes well up and her lower lip tremble, she bit it hard to stop herself from crying until a thin line of blood slowly travelled from her bottom lip down her chin.

When she noticed that his eyes started dulling and drifting shut every once and while, she couldn't stop herself from shouting and trying to reach for him, "No, Ichigo!" She yelled and fought harder with her chains. She needed to get to him, to save him. She couldn't watch him die like that. She loved him so much, he couldn't die like that.

Ichigo's eyes came into focus for moment to watch the new Arrancar -and apparently Rukia's jailer- raise his hand and aim a punch towards her face. In that moment, he managed to wriggle himself free.

"RUKIA!" He screamed, horrified as he watched the punch descending to finally hit its destination. He tried to reach her and protect her from that punch but he wasn't fast enough. He watched as her head lolled to the side and a new line of blood dripped from her mouth.

A long hard moment went by and everything seemed to stop, all he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears and his own heartbeats as he waited for her to move, to open her eyes, to at least twitch her eyebrow, anything. He just wanted to see her move and make sure that she's fine.

Rukia groaned in pain as she slowly lifted her head. She felt like hell, that punch was stronger than the one before it, there was going to be an ugly purple bruise marring her cheek tomorrow. Her eyes quickly found Ichigo's; she saw all the emotions he felt.

He allowed himself to be vulnerable in front of her, to let her see the emotions torturing him. Her eyes softened a little and she smiled at him gently in a comforting way. "I love you," she mouthed, not using her vocal cords to announce it.

Then she saw it, her eyes widened in fear, it all went by in a slow motion, she saw as the Arrancar's Zanpakutou slowly descended to slash Ichigo's back. Her voice failed her and she couldn't say anything.

Confused by her sudden reaction, Ichigo quickly knew why Rukia was gaping at him like a fish. The cool metal cutting through his back made it all too clear; a cry of pain escaped his bloody lips. He felt himself falling afterwards, his eyes closed on their own accord. He heard Rukia's voice, her soft voice that he so much wanted to hear, ring in his ears. Even though, it wasn't as soft as he had wanted it to be, he still smiled a content smile as he fell down, for he had heard her voice at least one last time. It was selfish of him but he didn't care. Down, down with no one to stop him from falling this time, he fell.

-

To be continued….

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

**Well, this was originally a very long chapter but I decided to cut it into two. So yes, there'll be a second part of this chapter. I'm planning a special edition so here's the deal. I'm working on two stories right now; this one and 'I Need You Tonight' (A Naruto fanfic)**

**I've published this chapter and a chapter of the Naruto fanfic at the same time and they both have a special edition…but the thing is; you people are going to have to earn the special chapter.**

**The chapter that gets the most reviews will receive its special chapter this week and the loser will have to wait for one month before the chapter comes out. They are both written so show me how much you truly love this story.**

**~KWF~**


	12. Half Alive Part 2

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

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**It was a tie so I had to publish both of the special chapters! You're so damn lucky.**

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~Extra~

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"Ya' know, King is really pathetic," the hollow inside the orange-haired shinigami snickered. He played with his white Zangetsu, letting the wrappings of the hilt surround his forearm and allowing the Zanpakutou to twirl freely around him.

"Why are you saying that?" Zangetsu asked with mild interest. His deep voice explained nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. He looked up at the sky and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Hichigo stared at the black-clothed man with uninterested look and yawned before stopping the Zanpakutou from moving and allowing it to rest on the horizontal building next to him. Lying on the building, he looked at the sky as small droplets of cold water started falling gently like a drizzle, one of them fell on his forehead and he moved his hand to brush the small drop of water away. His face contorted in annoyance.

"He's practically wrapped around the queen's finger and now look what happened because of that," Hichigo's voice echoed throughout the place, a few stones here and there fell as the usual-blue-sky above changed into a nasty shade of dark. The sun could no longer be seen.

Zangetsu-old man didn't say anything in return; instead he busied himself with staring up at the groggy sky as it rained on the two of them. He remembered telling Ichigo that he hated the rain so much and in all honesty, he expected the rain to stop but in the past few weeks the rain was a drizzle and it frequented the place more. He sighed heavily before opening his mouth to reply back, "He loves her."

"I figured that," Hichigo smirked, placing his hands behind his head like a pillow, "but he still could've shared with us, ya' know, the _good_ times," the white man made sure to emphasize on the word 'good', he turned his face to look at the calm man a few feet away from him and saw him stiffen in response. His smirk could only grow wider. "Yeah, I would've really used some company." For the first time, he felt sadness, gazing up at the rainy sky, he could only think about the end.

'_I told ya' not to die before I took over ya're body, dumb King."_

**-**

**Chapter twelve – part two**

**-**

Rukia couldn't believe what she was seeing. She felt her heart stop pounding against her chest for a full long moment. Her usual vivid eyes were smeared with the emotions of fear and horror. Her eyes were so wide that they would bulge out of their sockets. Seeing Ichigo falling like that was like seeing a knife slicing her heart slowly and painfully.

No, that couldn't be happening to him. He was the great Kurosaki Ichigo for crying out loud, he wouldn't go down that easily. But if that was true, then why wasn't he stopping himself from falling? Why wasn't he holding himself together? Why wasn't he reaching out for Zangetsu?

"ICHIGO!" She screamed her heart out; her voice was filled with so much emotion that even she was surprised at herself. Tears of agony spilled from her glassy eyes to mar her pale white cheeks with the hot salty liquid. The heart-wrenching pain she felt was nothing like any other.

She saw Miedo smirking at her and immediately felt anger rising within her. "You bastard! Why did you do that to him?!" She screamed loudly as she turned eyes of hatred at the dark Arrancar. He didn't respond nor did the smug look disappear from his face.

It hurt; it hurt so very much, it was unbearable. Her head suddenly felt very light and she fought not to fall into the sweet unconsciousness. Her angry tears started wracking her body, as she sobbed her pain out. She didn't try to mute out her sobs; instead she opted to let them be heard, to let the whole world know the agony and despair she was experiencing.

It took a few long moments for her to calm her ragged sobs and breaths before she turned red angry puffy eyes at the responsible for all of the things that had happened so far. "I'm going to make you pay dearly for this," she hissed with all the venom she could muster but the Arrancar seemed unfazed by her threat.

Quietly, he walked towards her with confident steps; he raised his hand to slap her across her face. "You better learn your manners, shinigami. You're going to be my guest, after all," he said next to her ear. His breath sent a shudder of disgust through her body and Rukia struggled not to say any witty comebacks.

She realized that she was in so much trouble as it was and was in no need for any more. Her biggest concerns were getting away from that bastard and finding Ichigo before returning back to Soul Society. And if what the Arrancar said was true about her being his guest, then she had to maintain her Kuchiki mask so as not to aggravate him more.

At those times, she had to think rationally, and she had to do it with her brain not with her heart like a certain orange-haired shinigami. She swallowed the lump in her throat before reluctantly obeying him and not saying anything.

"Good girl," he praised while putting his hand on her head and ruffling her hair like a parent would do to a child, or in Rukia's case, like Ichigo always used to do just to get on her nerves. She bit her lower lip until a new line of blood smeared her chin. Oh, how much she wanted to cut that hand off.

Miedo, tapped on the night sky lightly before it split open to reveal a pathway of darkness. He stepped into the Garganta and signaled for Rukia's 'jailer' to follow. The Arrancar with the hollow bone against his chest, bowed in respect before roughly pulling Rukia along with him into the passageway towards Hueco Mundo.

Rukia felt her blood running cold, the hairs on the back of her neck stood sharply as the eerie feeling of the darkness surrounded them completely. She had been in a Garganta before but that had been for an important reason; for it hadn't been for Ichigo leaving to Hueco Mundo, she would've never considered going to that place. And for a brief moment, she wondered: how Ichigo had been able to go into a place like this willingly?

It was a scary place, painted in nothing but darkness. Her eyes took awhile to adjust to the almost none-existing lighting in the place but even so, she still couldn't see where she was going. After sometime, the darkness started clearing. The sandy winds of Hueco Mundo slammed her face like a slap against a cheek. She took in the depressing place before the walking started again. Never in her life had she thought that she would come back to that place.

Her sandaled-feet dug into the sandy ground and she murmured a series of well-chosen curses under her breath. The walking that time took a bit longer than the previous one, but when they reached their destination, she couldn't help a shiver from running down her spine.

There, she stood in front of Aizen's ruined throne; Los Noches.

XXXX

Cold, it surrounded him and enveloped him almost completely, giving him a fake sense of security and relief. Dimming out the pain shooting through his limps like burning needles which never got tired of torturing him.

His throat felt unsurprisingly dry and his lips hurt like hell if he ever decided to even mouth a simple word. His head pounded like he was being hit by a hammer. Everything around him seemed to be out there to make his life as miserable as it could be.

But pain was good. It meant that he was still alive and being alive was also good. He tried to reason with himself but if the pain didn't stop he would go insane and die from it. His fingers twitched slightly and pressed softly against whatever was underneath him.

And for his delight, he was lying on the ground which was a good thing too. He tried to swallow and soften his aching throat but it only served to make him feel even worse. He opened his eyes slowly and the first thing that greeted him was the dust on the ground. A few stones stood here and there while rubles of the broken street beneath him surrounded him.

A wave of familiar reiatsu wafted over his senses and alerted him to the presence of a few selected people. He would've sighed if he could but sadly he couldn't so he opted to only stare. Sandaled-feet came into his view and he tried to look at their owners but that proved to be so much of an effort so he settled on looking at their feet.

"You're coming with us, Kurosaki Ichigo," a deep voice rumbled, one that Ichigo wasn't so fond of.

He didn't have a say in that matter and even if he were to complain, his complains would be brushed aside like always. He knew the stoic Kuchiki all too well and when the stuck-up jerk decided on something, he would _not_ take no for an answer. He's going to get his way with his 'all mightier than thou' attitude.

Four hands grabbed his arms and pulled him rather roughly to stand on his unsteady feet. He didn't have the energy to even wince in pain or groan so he decided to keep it all to himself. His head lolled to the side and he felt everything around him spinning. He felt himself slipping from the rough grips the two shinigami had on him before falling on his knees.

He tried to support himself with his hands as he felt a sudden urge to empty all the contents of his stomach. He took a few panted breaths as he threw everything up, a drop of sweat trickled down his cheek and mingled with his blood.

After making sure that Ichigo was done with empting everything, the two same shinigami grabbed him again but that time, they handled him more gently. He noticed from the corner of his eye, the familiar patch of red hair and a smile ghosted over his lips.

_I guess I'm in a really fucked-up situation…_

Not that he actually gave a damn to what those captains in Soul Society had to tell him. But seeing that Renji and Byakuya came to fetch him from the living world along with another shinigami he had yet to recognize, was a bit too much even for him, unless it was really important.

He had really done it this time and had gotten on the nerves of the Sou-Taichou. And for some unknown reason, Ichigo felt like a winner. Seeing that he had yet to figure who the other person holding him was, he glanced to his right and saw a familiar 69 tattoo. He had seen it before, but the real question was where?

He remembered seeing it on that silver-haired guy, the one with the Vizards. What was his name again? Well, that didn't matter anymore, now did it? He searched through his brain until he remembered the other owner of the tattoo. That shinigami in the ninth division, his name was…Hiragi? No, that's not it, Hitogi, Hisagi. Yes, that was it; Hisagi something. Hisagi Shuuni, Shuuki, Shuuhi. Yep, that's him; Hisagi Shuuhi, as he recalled.

The guy came to Karakura Town not too long ago and even lived in his house so Ichigo was bound to remember his name whether he wanted to or not.

In front of him, walked Kuchiki Byakuya with his 'high and mighty' air around him. He saw him open up the Senkai gate that would take them to Soul Society but after that, unconsciousness took over him and blinded him for the rest of the journey.

XXXX

"Well, look who's finally awake."

Ichigo groaned, his eyes stirred a little but remained shut. He shifted in his position and turned on his side only to have pain greeting him in the morning. He winced a little before trying to grab whatever was hurting him to discover that his whole body hurt as hell.

He had really done it this time and had managed to get himself almost killed. He sighed in exasperation, cracking his eyes open to reveal hazelnut eyes behind lazy eyelids, the first thing that assaulted his view was the brilliant color of red.

He didn't dare to look at the face of its owner when shame washed over him like a flood. He lost in his battle against Miedo and lost the most important person in his whole life, the white moon of his night, the candle of his darkness. He lost it all, he lost Rukia.

The back of his eyes stung with welling tears, he blinked them away as he hid his face from view. Biting his lower lip in frustration until a line of blood flooded from the small cut in his bottom lip. He was nothing but a weak, irrational, useless stupid fool.

His shoulders shook violently, trying to suppress his tears so as not to show them to anyone especially to Renji. He had never been used to crying in front of anyone but in those past few weeks, he had found himself doing that quite often and it irritated him.

Renji watched his friend with a look of something akin to pity in his eyes. He was angry, no he was furious and the first thing he had wanted to do when he first saw the orange-haired man on the ground was to kill him on the spot and revive him then kill him again for losing the dearest person in his life.

He had long accepted the fact that Rukia would never see him as nothing more than a dear friend but that didn't mean that he stopped loving her with every fiber of his heart even if his love wasn't returned or accepted. He cared for her so much and when he accepted that she was with Ichigo, he expected that Ichigo would take care of her.

But it looked like he was wrong in thinking that. He should've kept an eye on her all the time, and that's why he hated himself so much at the moment. He was weak and he was defeated with one blow; only _one_ blow.

He was at fault and therefore was disgusted with himself so he couldn't put the whole blame on Ichigo. Yet the look on Ichigo's face, made him feel more irritated. Kurosaki Ichigo looked like he was ready to give up, like it was already over and that nothing could be done to save Rukia and get her back. The look of pure despair resided in the eyes of Kurosaki Ichigo and he hadn't seen that look since the time when he lost everything dear to him.

Renji feared that look and hated it. It was not the look that usually shone in the eyes of his friend. Therefore, since Rukia was not there, he took it upon himself to knock some sense into the man and knowing Seireitei, every shinigami would be willing to help in that task. But he had to stay away from the eleventh division, especially if he wanted Ichigo to stay alive.

"You're an idiot," Renji stated as a matter of a fact calmly. When he didn't receive anything back he continued, "You're a stupid irresponsible useless weak fool," he finished. His hands clenched to form fists, until his knuckles turned white from the blood deprivation.

He noted Ichigo's body stiffening before he saw those haunted hazel eyes stare back at him from beneath hooded eyelids. They were red and glassy but he didn't comment on that.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ichigo mumbled. His scowl deepening in agitation although, he knew perfectly well that he deserved to be called all those things. But he still didn't appreciate being told by the red-haired shinigami. He noticed white bandages wrapped around Renji's head but didn't say anything.

"Because you have to stop acting like it's too late to go an' save Rukia!" Finally losing his calm, Renji grabbed Ichigo by the bandages covering his whole chest and pulled him into eye-level. He was never a calm man to begin with so feigning being calm like Kuchiki Byakuya didn't settle well with him.

Ichigo hissed in pain, he could feel the bandages covering his body, wet with blood coming from his newly-opened wounds. But he didn't break the eye-contact with Renji and glared at him.

"Then what do you suggest I do? I'm so weak, I can't do anything right. Rukia's so far away I can't reach her. Every time I fight against that bastard, I end up almost dead and more people get hurt," Ichigo hissed angrily, his eyes turning into pools of sadness, the mist of agony fogging his eyes and better judgment. He could feel himself breaking down in front of Renji and he cursed himself for showing his weakness in front of other people.

"You disgust me," Renji whispered icily. One moment, Ichigo was being held roughly by his bandages, the next he found himself on the cold marble floor of the room. His eyes were wide in shock; his hand slowly came to touch his bruised cheek.

"Where's your so-called resolve?!" Renji clenched the fist he used to punch Ichigo with, in front of him. He was struggling to keep his calm and not to beat the orange-haired man into a bloody pulp.

"_Are you a man whose resolve is so easily broken?!" _

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the floor underneath him. He felt like déjà vu, that thing happened to him before when he was defeated by the two Espada when they first came into Karakura.

"Do you believe that you're weak? Are you afraid that you won't be able to save Rukia?" Renji asked, his auburn eyes bore into Ichigo's hazel ones.

"_Are you afraid of defeat? Are you afraid that you cannot protect your friends?"_

"If you think you're weak, then get stronger," the red haired shinigami said as he slowly lowered his fist to his side.

"_If you're afraid of defeat, then get stronger."_

"If you're afraid that you won't be able to save Rukia, then get stronger and swear that you'll save her and protect her."

"_If you're afraid you can't protect your friends, then get stronger and swear you'll protect them."_

"That's the kind of man I know you are!"

"_That's the kind of man I know you are!" _

Ichigo felt nostalgia wash over him, it was as if Rukia was telling him to stop acting like a weakling and pull himself together. Something akin to the resolve his eyes once bore glimmered amongst the sea of despair. It slowly got stronger, eliminating all the doubt and uncertainty from his eyes.

"I thought I asked for your suggestion," Ichigo smirked and tried to stand up, he winced in pain before rethinking his decision. His body still ached and his bruised cheek throbbed with new pain which didn't help in the least.

He strained his body to move again but then saw a hand extended towards him. He looked at its owner and saw a smirking Renji. Ichigo smiled in gratitude and took the extended hand.

"Welcome back." Renji patted Ichigo's back which made him stumble a little on his steps.

"I wasn't planning on staying away for long," the orange-haired man replied back.

"Yeah right, a moment ago, you were about to cry like a little baby," the sixth Fuku-taichou teased with a knowing smile.

"Shut up."

"You know, I bet a lot of people wanted to get you into shape and the first one is Kuchiki-taichou," Renji said as a matter of a fact while helping Ichigo back into the bed.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, he's so gonna be pissed off when he knows that you're the rude insolent Kurosaki brat again."

"Tch, let's just focus on saving Rukia."

"But we'll have to get you back into shape before doing that, won't we Kuchiki-taichou?" A new voice entered the conversation between the two 'friends'. They both looked up to see the forth division's taichou Unohana Retsu standing in the door way. She stepped aside to reveal the head of the Kuchiki family.

"We certainly have to," Kuchiki Byakuya calmly said. Even though his voice betrayed nothing of the anger and annoyance he was feeling, Byakuya's presence and flare of reiatsu were enough to alert the two shinigami in the room to the anger in the Kuchiki's heart.

"Good luck in getting out of this one," Renji whispered before excusing himself and leaving Ichigo to endure whatever hell the Kuchiki had thought of before coming there. The young Vizard locked gazes with the stoic Kuchiki, the resolve in his eyes burning away all the other emotions.

XXXX

Ichigo doubled over in pain, he fell on all of his four and panted heavily. He took in as much air as he could, his lungs asking for very much needed oxygen. He didn't have even the time to wince in pain when a wave of pink petals closed in on him.

He gritted his teeth and quickly moved out of the Sakura petals' way. Dust flew all around the place, making the vision almost impossible. He took a few steps back to create as much distance as he could. Putting one unsteady hand on his chest's wounds to ease the pain a little and to stop the blood from gushing out of the new wounds, he used the other hand to hold the hilt of his Zanpakutou in a tight grip although shaking.

A cut on his forehead poured the red liquid out and into his left eye. He tried to wipe it away but to no avail; it kept bleeding. He glared daggers at the calm Kuchiki. He swallowed back and a memory flashed in his mind. When Rukia was taken away by her brother and Renji to be executed because of him, he remembered fighting in this exact spot against Byakuya. He gritted his teeth before rising Zangetsu in the air and launching his famous attack; Getsuga Tenshou.

Byakuya watched as the black wave of reiatsu rushed towards him destroying everything in its way, he simply raised his hand and in one graceful move, the sharp blades of the Sakura petals formed a wall in front of him, shielding him from the dangerous attack.

Seconds after, the one thousand sharp blades travelled to reach its enemy. Eyes widening, Ichigo tried to get out of the blades' way; he struggled with his body to move. His body was at its limit; he cursed under his breath and readied himself for the upcoming pain. Blades tore through his skin and flesh, leaving angry bleeding marks and cuts. He leaned on his Zanpakutou for support, the waves of the Sakura petals kept on attacking him until they wore him down. He fell on the ground and panted heavily.

Byakuya finally decided to stop his Bankai's attack and spare the young man the pain.

"Stand up, Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya said, his gray ruthless eyes turning into slits. He held his hand in front of him and slowly, the pink petals of the Sakura started forming his famous Zanpakutou; Senbonzakura.

Ichigo tried to stand up on his feet with the help of his Zanpakutou but then fell again; his feet wouldn't help him in this. He found a great deal of difficulty in trying to suck in air and satisfy his demanding lungs. Two thick lines of blood trailed down his chin from his mouth, each from a side. He glared at the calm Kuchiki and struggled to stand back up.

"Stand up," Byakuya ordered with a voice that held no room for disobedience.

Ichigo shut his eyes tightly, his hands clenching into fists. He clenched them so tightly that his knuckles started turning white from the blood deprivation.

"I have to, I have to get up," he whispered, gaining the attention of the stoic Kuchiki. Byakuya looked at the fallen man with hidden interest.

"If I don't, who will save Rukia? I'm so weak that's why I have to get stronger. I don't have time to sit back and relax, I have to get stronger!" A tear escaped his eyes and trailed an invisible line down his cheek.

"You can't win when you whine like a child. Stand up, Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya said as gently as his voice could be.

Ichigo stared in shock before he slowly came to his senses. He fought to stand on his feet and when he succeeded, he almost fell back down. He stumbled on his feet as he used Tensa Zangetsu to support him when walking. His robes were ragged and tattered. Blood colored them and soaked them.

He took his fighting stance again and readied himself for the last attack. Fortunately for him, he was not the only one injured; he had done quite a number on Kuchiki Byakuya, too. So they were on an _almost_ equal footing since Ichigo was already injured when he started fighting with Byakuya.

Deciding to be the first to attack, Ichigo flared his black reiatsu around him and charged towards his opponent. White reiatsu flowed out of the sixth division's captain as he too charged towards the orange-haired man. The two swords clashed metal in the middle, the different colors of their reiatsu fought for dominance over each other until one of them won in a large burst of spiritual energy.

Ichigo leaned on his Zanpakutou for support while Byakuya simply stood a few feet away from him. The raven-haired captain started walking away, blood trailing behind him. "You won, Kurosaki Ichigo," he said before shunpo-ing away.

Ichigo looked up at the sky, the light of the sunset calming him in a strange way. He didn't favor the sunset, as a matter of a fact; it saddened him and caused something to twitch in his heart. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before re-opening them to reveal the glow of his resolve.

_I swear I'm going to save you, Rukia. Just wait for me._

XXXXX

Shinigami robes on.

Scowl firmly in place.

Zangetsu wrapped tightly and secured against his back.

Ichigo finished his preparations and started heading out of the room he accommodated in the sixth division's barracks. White bandages covered his whole torso up to his neck, a while plaster clung stubbornly to his left cheek and one to his forehead above his eye.

It'd been a week since Ichigo was brought back to Soul Society. And after his fight against Byakuya, Ichigo was transferred from his room in the forth division to his old room in the sixth division's barracks.

He took a deep breath the moment he stepped foot out of the room. This was it; he's going to save Rukia _alone. _It was his entire fault to begin with, that Rukia got mixed up in his affairs; she was not supposed to be in that situation if it wasn't for him.

He blamed himself and he was going to atone for his crime by saving her alone. He gazed up at the sky and saw the lone moon shining, illuminating his way with its silvery rays of light. He started making his way towards the place where he used to train in; Urahara's lair.

He had something in mind that he wanted to try and hoped that it would work because it would save him a lot of time.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ichigo didn't look surprised or shocked; he just kept his eyes firmly on the road before him without sparing the person any glance. "Leave, Renji," he icily said and continued on his way.

"'Don't think so. I'm coming with you," Renji replied back and followed Ichigo. "Don't even think about changing my mind."

A smirk ghosted over the orange-haired man's lips. "'Wasn't planning on trying to," he said.

-

Byakuya closed his eyes in resignation. He saw it all, but he wasn't planning on reporting that to Yamamoto-Sou-Taichou. He was sure that if anyone was able to bring Rukia back, it would be those two. He inhaled softly before retreating back to the darkness of his office. He trusted those two to bring his adopted sister back to him. And they better not disappoint him.

-

To be continued…

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Disclaimer: I don't own BLEACH.

**How was it? Good, bad? I'm waiting to know. Your opinions always make me smile. Tell me if I messed up in some parts, 'k?**

**~KWF~**


	13. From Yesterday

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and never will. If I did, you would see Ichigo and Rukia hooked up a long time ago.**

**Chapter thirteen**

* * *

"I've never thought that I would live to see this place again," Renji said with distaste and a frown marring his face. He looked around the sandy place and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The eerie wind whipped around them and carried crystals of sand and shreds of stone, the dark sky taking the privilege of being the roof to the land of Hollows. A small portion of bony trees could be seen protruding from between the white pearly grains of sand here and there.

Ichigo closed his eyes calmly, allowing his mind to drift into the past for a brief moment. Giving it the chance to perhaps reminisce the dear memories for at least one last time; _Rukia_…

She was the first to appear in his mind's eye and it was no surprise at all.

Who would've thought a midget like her would be able to break through the carefully-mended layers of ice protecting his heart. She never ceased to amaze him, that shinigami…no, that woman who took his heart into the palm of her hand and toyed with it freely.

He loved her and that was no secret. She loved him back; he was sure of it and could even state it as a fact proudly. He needed her to be by his side and she needed him with the same intensity. He couldn't live without her, couldn't imagine his life without her being part of it, and because of that; because of his selfishness, he endangered her and placed her in a position she shouldn't have been in.

Therefore, he would save her. Take her back to Seireitei where she would be safe from the hands of danger away from the monsters and freaks of nature lurking about the place. He would always be by her side to keep her safe and protect her, and would never take 'No' for an answer.

He shook his head slightly, a barely visible smirk ghosted over his lips. Concentration and comprehension of the situation he's in were what he lacked at the moment. Yet, he didn't care about those insignificant things. To him, Rukia was his priority besides, she had always scolded him and sometimes whacked him on the head because of those exact reasons so, why start changing his methods now?

His mind couldn't give him a clear image of what was lying ahead of them, be it unending armies of hollows taking refuge in the deep pits of darkness or a single Arrancar whom dared to lay a finger on the last person he cared deeply about, it didn't make a difference nor did it change the fact that he was going to save the last precious person in his life. And he would be damned if something as a hair touched her again.

He tiredly took in deep breaths to comfort his mind and soul, and to keep the fires of rage at bay and in control. Giving his hazel brown irises the chance to survey his surroundings, he searched the place for the majestic castle of Los Noches.

There, in the midst of the white pearly sands stood the broken castle which once stood proudly. Tentatively, he started his journey towards the silvery castle, to save the love of his life and the light of his darkness.

"Renji, let's go," Ichigo called the red-haired shinigami whom stood a few feet behind him. His tone calm and void of his emotions. His lips were set to form a tight thin line, while his eyebrows were tied into a frown.

The resolve of his heart painted his hazel brown orbs.

Renji would have permitted his complaints to come to life about how Ichigo wasn't one to order him around and to tell him what to do, but he bottled them all inside and swallowed his pride momentarily before following the substitute shinigami cautiously.

Renji was not a fool as to worsen his friend's state, he had already known that the young Vizard was walking on a thin sharp line and he could at any moment lose his balance and fall into the abyss of depression and frustration.

He had seen what a depressed Ichigo looked like and had had no wish for a repetition of that predicament. His hands were full as it was and he didn't think he could handle a depressed Ichigo again. Heck, Let him be depressed all he wanted after Rukia was back.

So he followed him silently towards the fallen castle.

One flash-step followed the other, Renji had some difficulty in keeping up with Ichigo, but he would never admit that for the sake of his pride. He pushed himself further to, at least keep his friend within reach. He clicked his tongue in annoyance but kept quiet nonetheless.

Conversations between the two were kept to minimum, Ichigo wasn't very co-operative in that matter and Renji didn't fathom the idea of having a little chat to pass the time with a half distracted Ichigo or let alone with himself. So for the remaining of their trip, he stuck to the occasional comments of: 'we're getting closer,' and 'that bastard better not touch Rukia.'

Of course, every comment included the possibility of Rukia getting hurt; hit a nerve in the orange-haired man causing his body to stiffen more. His eyes would glaze afterwards but a hard look would fill his eyes and his speed would increase even more.

Rukia was his precious person. A life without Rukia meant to him no life at all. She saved him from himself, saved him from going into solitude where no shred of light or hope could reach his shattered soul. She reminded him of who he was and what he was. He couldn't let anything happen to her.

His foot slammed harder into the white sand of the desert before disappearing again with a flash-step. The scattering grains of the sand were the only indication that a person stepped foot on this part of the place. His shinigami robes flapping wildly around him with each burst of new found speed.

It took only a mere second for a hollow to suddenly appear out of nowhere and to block the substitute shinigami's path but it also took an insignificant amount of energy to wipe it away like it had never existed in the first place.

Renji could only blink in mild surprise at the short interaction between the shinigami and the hollow. Renji could understand Ichigo's need to save Rukia and his rush to get this over with, but never in his short amount of time of knowing the young man had he seen him kill a hollow with such ruthlessness. Sure, he was aware enough of the danger these creatures possessed but they had once been unfortunate souls.

Besides, Ichigo never killed a hollow this way, his sword never held such an eerie feeling to it, such a murderous intent in it. Renji brushed his thoughts aside and pushed them to the deepest corner of his mind; it would not do well to start feeling cautious and incredulous of his friend. He had all the time to flip his thoughts through his mind and to take his time to understand them clearly.

Another hollow appeared and the same thing happened: appearance, slice then dissipation. It was like a mantra to them in order to reach their desired destination. But with each killing, Renji would wince inwardly at Ichigo's way of killing. He could not categorize what Ichigo was doing under the 'purifying souls' section; it looked to him more like murdering souls.

Ichigo's eyes were fixed on the destroyed castle which lay up ahead, only a few more flash-steps and he would be arriving at Aizen's broken throne.

Finally, they stood before the huge walls of Los Noches. The orange-haired shinigami could feel his blood starting to boil in his veins and worry gripping his heart in an ice-cold hold. He swallowed silently, his Adam-apple popping a little in the process, and then turned his face towards the man behind him.

"Renji," Ichigo started softly. "I need you to promise me something first before we go in there." Deep hazel eyes locked with auburn ones. Renji scowled at the face Ichigo was making. A look of utter despair took the place of the resolve Renji had once known in the eyes of the young man before him.

He clicked his tongue and averted his eyes to look at anything but the weak man waiting. His hands landed on his hips and for a long moment, he didn't dare to open his mouth in fear he would say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Not that he actually cared but still…they were going to fight back-to-back, therefore, nothing should ruin the atmosphere between them. Yet, his mouth couldn't resist…

"Wipe that pitiful look off your face, strawberry." There, he said it. Maybe now, his mouth could rest in peace. Though, he didn't feel regret.

"I guess I look pitiful for asking you this, but I need you to promise me." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his unruly orange hair, his eyes closing in exasperation.

"Depends on what you're going to say," Renji muttered under his breath, still refusing to look at the substitute shinigami. Hell, he would be damned to make a promise without knowing about what. Besides, that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, considering the rueful state Ichigo was displaying.

"I can't get you to promise _anything_ even before a battle. Great, just great!" Ichigo complained rather loudly and ruffled his bright orange hair more, causing the orange bangs to stand at every possible angle.

"No smart person would make a promise just like that out of the blue without knowing about what!" Renji retorted back angrily. He was starting to suspect this friend of his.

"I never knew that you were a smart person," Ichigo remarked nonchalantly.

"What did you say?!" Renji gritted his teeth. He could feel a vein pulsing on his forehead, threatening to blow up at any minute.

"You heard me, Pineapple," Ichigo taunted with a smug look on his face.

"You're one to say, Strawberry!" The red haired vice-captain glared haughtily. He could feel the last remains of his patience wearing thin. But after a few moments, the two burst into laughter.

It'd been such a long time since they could feel so free like this.

Offhanded arguments like this didn't occur much often after the Winter War. Both shinigami strived for their normal lives to be back however, one of them knew that his life could never return back to normal. That was stated like a fact in a text book.

Gradually, the laughter subsided and left a comfortable silence to fill the void. Ichigo felt the burden weighing his chest lighten somewhat to allow some much-needed easiness to flow through him. He cleared his throat once as seriousness covered his face.

"Will you?" he pressured, hoping beyond hope that this time Renji would give him the answer he sought.

"Fine," Renji heaved a defeated sigh and raised his hands in surrender. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked expectantly at the other shinigami. His shoulders were a little bit tense and his tattooed eyebrows were knitted to form a scowl.

"I need you to look after Rukia," Ichigo said pointedly.

"What do you think I've been doing up till now?" Renji gushed angrily.

"No, you don't understand!" the orange-haired shinigami growled, his head lowered and his eyes were glaring at the sand grains. Something in his tone of voice was out of place. There was a hint of despair and pain in it. "You don't understand…if anything were to happen to me…if I were to die, I need you to make sure that nothing ever puts her in this situation again," Ichigo finished remorsefully.

Renji stared for a few moments at the obviously-pained look Ichigo was sporting. Notwithstanding the sight before him, he swallowed heavily and shook his head. Steadily, he approached the young man and placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"You can count on me," Renji assured. Without any further ado, he whacked Ichigo on the back of his head. "Now, get that stupid look off your face, you're starting to disgust me, y'know." He smirked smugly.

"Thanks," Ichigo thanked him before he himself whacked the tattooed man on the back of his head. The former smiled triumphantly while the later growled in annoyance while rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Stupid strawberry…," Renji mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Are you ready, Renji?" Ichigo asked with a genuine smile.

Renji raised his eyes to study Ichigo's face with a scrutinizing look and waited for the said-man to add anything more. Now that he actually took the time to thoroughly check him, the red-haired vice-captain noticed the signs of worry and restlessness itched deeply into his companion's face. It made him furrow his eyebrows in apprehension.

What happened to the fifteen years old boy he had first met?

How could war change people so much just like that? Well, he couldn't really blame him for the changes that had happened but Renji couldn't stop his mind from musing over it silently.

"Ah." Nevertheless, Renji replied back with a smirk spreading widely over his face. He unsheathed his Zanpakutou and swung it to finally rest on his shoulder.

"Let's get the asshole and bring Rukia back," Ichigo glowered, a frown marring his eyebrows.

"We'll make him regret even thinking about taking Rukia away," Renji growled and smirked mischievously, his eyes glistening with rage and anger of all sorts.

_A battle where love and pride were at stake awaited..._

* * *

_Where am I?_

Gradually, a beautiful pair of violet eyes was freed from the suffocating pitch black of unconsciousness. The owner of this said-pair blinked a couple of times to regain her normal vision. The first, she noticed was how cold and uncomfortable the floor she had been sleeping on. She braced herself on her elbows and looked around her curiously.

She was in a strange place that she couldn't recognize visiting before. Conversely enough, she could swear she had seen this place's design before. She wracked her brain to remember but all she could come up with was nothing. Her head hurt and she felt herself dozing off every once and awhile so she brushed her first thought away and opted to thinking about it at a later time.

A numb pain invaded her senses; she looked at the pain's source and noticed bony shackles surrounding her small wrists. The skin underneath them tearing up with each attempt to try and free herself from their painful grasp. She noted the existence of dry blood coating the white skin of her wrists and winced a little in pain.

Soon, she gave up wrestling her wrists free and took her time in surveying the place she was in. It was dark for one and for two; she could hardly make out the door's place in the wall. Lying on the hard floor was beginning to hurt her back so she decided to crawl her way to the nearest wall and lean on it.

As expected, crawling on the floor without the use of her hands proved to be quite a difficult task and it took her some time to achieve that. At one point, she had to stop to give her poor nerves some time to rest from the constant and persistent pain. When finally, she accomplished the mission she had assigned to herself, she reclined on the wall and took a few heavy deep breaths.

Leaning against the wall didn't do much to ease the pain of her back but she still liked this position better than the previous one. She rested her head back and glared at the gloomy ceiling. A few drops of sweat ran down her cheeks leaving trails behind them to indicate their existence.

If only she had been stronger, this wouldn't have happened….that one single thought crossed her mind on more than one occasion and this time, it seemed to be more persistent than ever. This time, her weakness could cost her a lot of things. Because she knew that Ichigo would never stay put and would definitely come to her rescue…

She appreciated his concern and worry but she noticed that every time he worried about her, he did something rash and unthinkable which only served to amplify her own concern and worry over his safety.

A secret smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Such a strange combo they were…

It all started when their fates intertwined and crossed roads in Karakura Town. Now that she took her leisure time to think about it, she had never expected this to happen, to meet an orange-haired idiot whom could see ghosts and most of all shinigami.

Then to be saved from her death and execution by the same boy…that was a bit shocking. But nothing could beat the fact that she had actually fallen in love with that same boy. That alone was impossible to predict.

It felt like it'd been so long since she last saw him. She missed him, missed the softness of his orange hair between her fingers, missed his masculine scent, and missed his cocky smile and the feeling of his delicious lips against her own.

In reality, she missed everything about him. A bittersweet smile took over her lips as a small salty tear escaped her eye and tainted her pale cheek. She was deeply, truly and madly in love with him. She closed her eyes for a brief moment to take refuge in her sweet memories.

_Strong arms wrapped around her petite frame and pulled her against a warm chest from behind. She sighed softly in content and leaned back against the warm chest while closing her eyes. Her hands slowly went up to hold the arms holding her. She could feel light kisses being planted on the skin of her neck and she could only moan and snuggle closer to the person holding her._

_She heard a sigh emitting from the person before all the warmth disappeared. She turned to look at the orange-haired man questioningly before she noticed how distant his eyes seemed to be. They were staring ahead, at Seireitei; his hands were neatly tugged in the pockets of his hakama pants._

_They were both standing on the cliff which oversaw Seireitei, the tired sun beginning its quest of abandoning the sky and leaving multiple lines of different shades of orange and violet. The sight was breathtaking._

_Tentatively, she sat on the green grass of the cliff with her knees propped up before her and her hands resting on them casually. She continued to stare at the scene before her. She felt the presence of Ichigo looming over her before settling behind her and pulling her into a hug from behind._

_She relaxed in his embrace and continued to watch the scene unfolding before her. They stayed like this, stayed in silence and watched quietly until the sun completely disappeared and in its place, the bright white moon took residence. _

"_What's wrong, Ichigo?" Rukia said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyebrows furrowing slightly to form a worried scowl._

"_Nothing, it's just that I've been thinking lately," Ichigo replied with the same tone of voice. Tightening his hold around Rukia's waist and pulling her closer to him, he rested his chin on top of her head._

"_Thinking is bad for you, you know," Rukia pointed out as a matter of fact, a smug smile ghosting over her rosy lips._

_Ichigo smiled a little and opted to enjoy their light banter, instead he kept his gaze fixed on Seireitei. "You are one to say, or did you forget Rukia?" Ichigo asked lightly._

_The raven-haired shinigami closed her eyes and listened attentively to the deep rumble of his voice in his chest. It was so deep and calming in a sense she hadn't noticed before. His voice was comforting, strong and at times a little brash and annoying. But she never got sick of hearing her name coming out of his mouth. It just felt right, like it belonged._

_She pouted her lips to show her dislike. Yet try as she might she couldn't stop the smile which threatened to blossom from forcing its way to her mouth. _

"_What have you been thinking about? It has to be awfully interesting for it to stick in that strawberry head of yours." She tried to stop herself from laughing when she heard the rumble of his chest again as he muttered incoherent words of irritation and annoyance. _

"_I've been thinking about everything which had taken place in the last couple of months no, years," he mumbled, his voice taking on a serious edge._

_The gurgle of muffled giggles stopped the moment Ichigo had spoken his mind. A downcast look took over Rukia's face; unconsciously she started fumbling with the white sash of her black robes. _

"_What exactly have you been thinking about Ichigo?" Rukia asked albeit a little hesitant. She feared the knowledge of his thoughts; he might not want to tell her, perhaps his thoughts were private and he didn't wish to share them with anyone, yet here she asked. _

_How was he going to answer that question of hers? She would know in a moment._

"_About the day I started working as a substitute shinigami, when I first met you." He angled his head to get a better view of her face. When he noticed the scowl marring her beautiful eyebrows, his eyes softened a little in response and he turned her around before setting her on his lap._

_Still she didn't dare to look at him in the face. She felt regret and remorse for turning him into a shinigami and maybe, he would tell her that everything which happened to him up till now had been her fault to begin with._

_Her violet eyes gradually widened as she felt soft lips press against her forehead. Ever so slowly, she raised her head to be only greeted by the sight of Ichigo smiling genuinely at her. She hadn't seen him smile like that for a very long time. She found herself smiling just by looking at him. He looked so happy, so peaceful. The scowl which took permanent residence in his eyebrows was nowhere to be found. She covered her mouth with the palm of her hand and hugged herself with her other one._

"_It was the best day of my life," he told her honestly. The hazel color of his eyes was a bit darker because of the lack of light but she could see a glint in those eyes which hadn't been there before._

_Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck before she pressed a soft kiss on his lips. It was a chaste kiss and didn't last long but when she pulled back, she noted an amused look on his face. She rolled her eyes and pulled away._

"_Wow Ichigo, I never knew you the type to think a lot about the past," she commented after a moment._

"_People change." He shrugged in response and kept his arms around her in a protective way._

"_True, true." She knew that fact first hand and didn't need anyone to tell her about it._

"Ichigo…," she mumbled softly under her breath while veiling her pretty violet orbs with long thick eyelashes. Burying her head in her hands, she took heavy deep breaths, her shoulders shook slightly but she soon regained her calm composure again.

"Dammit." A wheeze of a groan came out of one of the darkest corners of the room.

Rukia raised her head hastily and looked around her. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, her body tensed and her eyes darted from one corner to another. She tried standing up to have a better chance of locating the source of the cuss word, however her body failed her and she only ended up in falling back on the hard floor.

An unintentional wince escaped from her dry lips. Her eyes widened in dread, she waited for a few minutes in anticipation of what it would become of the sound's owner, yet nothing happened. She resisted the urge of heaving a sigh of relief when the shuffle of shackles reached her sharp ears.

She swallowed nervously, straining her eyes in hopes of catching a glimpse of the person in the room, and stretching her senses to locate the person's whereabouts. Unfortunately, nothing worked in her favor. Her body was too tired to be able to distinguish one reiatsu from another and it was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate on one spot in the darkness.

Soon, she gave up on her attempts and decided to go with the old-fashioned way; ask.

"I know you're here, reveal yourself!" Her voice wavered a little from the strain her body was put under but she still tried to even out the words.

A cough was all she needed to confirm that yes indeed she was not alone in this tomb-like-room. In a way, it made her feel a little bit at ease, but the rational part of her mind felt wary and cautious. What if the person was an enemy?

She was in no way capable of fighting. She felt drained, weary and she only wished to get a decent eye-shut to wake up and discover that everything had just been a very bad dream, and to find her orange-haired lover sleeping beside her in the comfortable bed.

"Who are you?" Rukia hissed and waited for anything in return, let it be a groan or curse word, it didn't matter.

" Would you just shut your damn mouth, woman!" Something resembling a shout came out more like a distraught command.

Rukia couldn't resist arching her delicate eyebrow. "Way to go in specifying your desires," she replied smugly.

What she heard next didn't disappoint her, in fact, she outright expected it. A growl of annoyance came first before a series of well-chosen cuss words followed.

"I would clean that tongue if I were you," she said nonchalantly just to provoke another reaction. It was just too easy to anger the hidden-in-the-dark guy.

Shuffling of feet was her only warning before she found herself pressed against the brick wall with fingers around her pale neck. She gasped in surprise, her eyes widening in response, her small hands hastily trying to free her neck.

"Do you think you can say anything if I crush this little throat of yours?" The mouth of her assaulter was near her ear, she could feel his breath brushing across her skin. Chills ran down her body and she couldn't suppress a shudder of disgust and fear from showing. It only made her attacker smile even more, to reveal a row of white sharp teeth. But what caught her attention and made her feel like someone had punched her in the gut was the mask-like-canines.

It all happened in a moment, one thing she was getting the life chocked out of her and the other; she was lying on the floor trying to catch her breath. She was caught in a fit of disturbing coughs but eventually it subsided. She looked around her frantically and noticed the man whom was trying to kill her, panting heavily on the floor.

He winced a little bit before muttering some incoherent words and raising his azure eyes to look at her. She almost immediately recognized the look which clouded his eyes; pain and despair painted the blue irises of his eyes, and even though he tried to kill her, she felt pity for him, for his look resembled Ichigo's own look back in the old days.

"Y-you're an Espada," she managed to whisper.

"A former-Espada."

To be continued…

* * *

I'm so sorry for taking so long and my only excuse is school. It really has been putting a lot of pressure on me and the last couple of months weren't exactly a picnic both mentally and physically. So here again, I'm sorry.

Anyway, a bunch of thanks to those who've reviewed the last chapter, and I hope that you've enjoyed this one too. Well, the story is almost coming to an end; I would give it like three or four more chapters, I can't really tell, it all depends on my plot-bunnies.

~KWF~


	14. Strings, Strength, Motivations

**Breathe Your Life Into Me**

...

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

**Chapter fourteen**

...

* * *

Ichigo ran. He ran and ran until he could feel the air of the abandoned castle suffocate him. His lungs burned with every breath he took. He remembered never feeling tired from running at all. As a matter of a fact, the first time he went to Soul Society, he had done nothing but kept on running until he had reached the Shrine of Patience where Rukia had been kept as a prisoner.

However, this time felt different. It was much different. Last time, he wanted to save her to pay her back; he only held feelings of friendship and gratitude for her. She was his friend, his very close friend. Yet this time, his feelings for her took a drastic change. They were longing, devotion and love for her.

His worry and anxiety for her made his thoughts take a few turns in the wrong direction and every time that happened, he would curse himself for even daring to think such thoughts. But he still couldn't help it, so he ran. He ran and ran and he knew he would run to the ends of earth and heaven even to go as far as hell just to see her beautiful face again, to take a look at her stunning smile, her captivating orbs of eyes and to hear her silky voice. So for that, he would keep running.

Walls stretched their lengths before him and Renji. It seemed like there was a never-ending road spread before them, not even a single turn. He silently wondered why and all he could come up with was: the _bastard_ wanted him to come and get _him_.

He gritted his teeth in agitation and increased his speed, unbeknownst to him; Renji was struggling to keep up with the insane speed Ichigo was going at. At the rate they were going at, they wouldn't have enough energy to fight the enemy but Renji didn't allow himself to utter a complaint.

So he ran and he would keep running until his legs wouldn't be able to carry him anymore.

* * *

"A former-Espada."

Rukia stared wide-eyed at the tired-looking man before her. Her mouth opened and closed with nothing coming out, her mind stopped working and refused to aid her. Unforgettable scenes plagued her mind, scenes of which Ichigo fought against the Espada and got severely wounded.

She swallowed nervously and started backing out until she reached a dead-end. Her back slammed the wall behind her and she continued to only stare at him with a gaping mouth.

"How much longer are you gonna keep your mouth open like that?" the former-Espada growled angrily and pushed himself off the floor to stand. He made his way towards the petite Shinigami and towered over her with his height. When he received no reaction from her, he huffed in exasperation and grabbed her by the collar of her black robes.

"If you're gonna say something, say it, Shinigami!" he yelled at her, his mouth was mere inches from her face. She could feel his hot ragged pants on the skin of her face. It made her skin shudder in disgust and fear.

"Let go of me, you asshole!" she retorted angrily and tried to wriggle herself free but wasn't able to.

"Hey, wait a minute midget. Aren't ya' that Shinigami, the one I created a hole in back in the living world?" Rukia froze at his words. Now that he was closer to her, she could somewhat see the color of his hair. It was azure-blue and if she remembered correctly, his name was Grimmjow.

She remembered Ichigo telling her about his fight with him in Hueco Mundo on more than one occasion, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra. He always mentioned how strong those two were.

"Y-you're Grimmjow," she whispered. She noticed him narrowing his eyes a little at her.

"And you really are that same Shinigami," he said more to himself than to her. His grip on her collar tightened a bit more and she winced a little at the pain invading her neck.

"You know, I haven't had any women for awhile now." Grimmjow bared his fangs at her in an evil grin. Rukia could feel her blood running cold. _Not now, _she thought. She was practically helpless against this Espada. She was weaponless and to top it, she was exhausted and doubted that she would be able to cast a proper Kido incantation.

And before her thoughts could progress to a more depressing path, she felt a pair of what could only be lips assaulting her mouth savagely. She struggled to release herself and kept moving her head in every direction she knew.

Finally after what had felt like hours but was barely a few moments, he pulled back to look at her for a full minute without saying anything. His face displayed no emotions whatsoever. Rukia decided to make use of this precious time before he decided to do anything worse.

She wriggled in his grip as much as she could but sadly to no avail.

"Unhand me, you damn asshole!" She bellowed and used her fists to hit him on his chest but still she couldn't get him to let her go.

"Would you just stop moving you stupid Shinigami, you're not even my fucking type! You don't even look like a woman!" He gritted his teeth in concentration to keep her in place.

"What did you say?" Rukia stopped struggling and narrowed her eyes skeptically at him.

"You heard me, Shinigami." Grimmjow knew that he had hit a sensitive nerve and graciously allowed the smirk which threatened to spread over his lips.

"Are you trying to say I'm not a woman? Well, I'll show you how womanly I am!" Gradually, Rukia's attempts at hitting the Espada holding her started with a vengeance. Try as she might, she was no match for him.

"Weren't you just trying to get away?" Grimmjow asked, amused at her sudden change of mind.

In order to be able to regain a little of her lost composure and what little dignity she had left, she increased her attempts to get away from him. So she placed her small hands and her sandaled feel on his heaving chest and pushed as hard as she could.

Surprisingly, she was able to cause the former-Espada to budge from his spot and to at least let go of her. She fell unceremoniously on the hard floor and winced a little then congratulated herself mentally on achieving the almost-impossible.

Looking up with a smug expression on her face, she noticed that her attacker wasn't looking at her, but in fact, leaning heavily above her against the wall. The expression on his face was unbearable to see even if this was the person -who hurt Ichigo on more than one occasion- displaying it. She couldn't keep looking at him so she bowed her head and started crawling away from him.

A few minutes passed by with only the sounds of pants coming from Grimmjow. Rukia took refuge in the opposite corner of where he was leaning against the wall. She pulled her knees up and hugged them with her bounded wrists, all the while, her eyes not straying from the Arrancar's leaning figure.

She stared at him as he gradually slid down the wall to finally settle on the marble floor. He leaned his back against the solid wall and rested one forearm on his propped up knee. She noted that he was looking at the ceiling above and wondered what exactly he was looking at. So curiosity won over her and she too looked up but only to find darkness greeting her.

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at him to see that he had closed his eyes. She took a deep breath before she let it out with a sigh and closed her eyes too.

Silence enveloped them both for what felt like eternity until Rukia couldn't take it anymore and decided to break the cold silence.

"Hey, Espada," Rukia first called hesitantly, her voice was low and weak but after having received no reply, she tried again her luck and called one more time. This time her voice was stronger and steadier.

"Espada, I'm talking to you!" she called with a hint of annoyance at being ignored again. "Answer me, dammit!" she yelled agitatedly.

"What the fuck do you want?" Finally, he answered. He looked at her with blazing azure eyes. She could see that she had irritated him enough to answer her and she was pleased at herself for receiving a reaction from him. It had been scary enough when she woke up alone, and she didn't want to stay with a former Espada whom seemed to refuse to even talk. Rukia was already starting to feel frustrated from all of this.

"So you could hear me calling…," she said mockingly.

"So what if I did hear you, what do you want?" he asked aggravated that she coaxed him into opening his eyes. She didn't know how hard it was getting for him to keep his eyes open. He was tired, annoyed, irritated and was feeling all the emotions which were related to anger.

"Talk," she simply ordered. He looked at her dumbfounded before he snapped out of his brief shock.

"Talk?" he echoed.

"Yes, talk," she repeated again.

"What the hell do you want to talk about woman?" he growled angrily at her.

"First, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously, her eyes looking at him waiting for an answer.

"That's none of your damn business." He turned his head away from her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"C'mon, tell me!" she tried to coax him into telling her but all her attempts were met with colorful words of refusal. After having gotten sick of hearing him cursing in every sentence he said, she pouted angrily and stopped talking.

She was furious. How dare this Arrancar talk to her like that! She was a Kuchiki, a member of one of the four noble houses. This was absurd.

So she ignored him for the time being and acted like she was alone and he was nowhere to be seen. She soon busied herself with her bony cuffs. She fidgeted around trying to free herself but unfortunately she wasn't able to. She tried breaking them, smashing them against the floor, against the wall, biting them, pulling her hands free of them but nothing of that worked. And the more she tried, the more she cut her wrists with the pointy edges of her ivory cuffs.

Time passed by and she still couldn't break them. Eventually her attempts ceased to exist and she settled on staring at the floor. She could see nothing but black. But she tried to make the most of it to keep her boredom away.

Unexpectedly, she found herself opening her mouth to talk. "You know, Ichigo is most probably on his way to come here. The fool just doesn't listen to me and does exactly the opposite of what I tell him to do. I know that if he were to come here, he would lose his life and no matter how hard I try to get it through his thick skull, he just wouldn't get it." She sighed, her small hands forming tightly clenched-fists.

Grimmjow didn't bother acknowledging her and continued to listen to what she had to say as a means to pass the time. It was meaningless to him and he wasn't even the least bit interested to know what she had in mind yet he thought it would be a good way to keep the exhaustion away from his mind for now at least.

"Even though he's just too stubborn for his sake, he's very kind and a good man at heart, and that's what I like about him." She looked up from her floor-gazing to find that she had an attentive listener. She smiled at him and stretched her hands up in the air and couldn't stop the little wince of pain that escaped her slightly parted lips. She instinctively pulled her arms down and nursed her injured wrists with care.

"Why are you telling me this?" Grimmjow asked quietly and looked at her incredulously.

"Beats me, I don't know why I'm bothering to tell you," she replied while shrugging her shoulders.

She rested her head against the wall and stared at the void of darkness in the ceiling. She heard the shuffle of clothes but she paid it no heed and continued gazing at the ceiling. From her peripheral view, she could see Grimmjow's figure standing up and walking closer to her. He towered over her until he crouched beside her and stared at her for a few moments.

She looked at him with wondering eyes, waiting to see what he was about to do. She didn't have to wait for long before Grimmjow slowly reached towards her bony cuffs and with a single hit freed her coated-with-blood wrists.

She tilted her head to the side and expected an explanation for his sudden action but received none. Feeling too tired to go back to his original spot; Grimmjow slumped against the wall a few feet away from Rukia and closed his eyes.

"What was that all about?" she asked but didn't get her hopes too high on getting an answer from the ex-Espada.

"You looked pathetic." A curt answer was what he gave her.

Rukia didn't comment on what he had said though she couldn't stop the urge of quirking one delicate eyebrow at him even though she knew that he probably wouldn't be able to see her gesture. She nursed her sore wrists and almost immediately started using some of her low energy preserve to cast a Kidou spell and heal her wounds.

They throbbed with pain and made her wince every once and awhile. She wanted to be in full shape if she ever succeeded in escaping from this ominous room.

Trying to use as minimum reiatsu as possible, she finally finished healing her wrists. Clotted blood still lingered on her sensitive skin however that wouldn't be a problem once she got her hands on some water. She sighed in content when she no longer felt the numbing pain invading her nervous system.

She turned her head left and saw the slumped form of the blue-haired Arrancar. Cautiously, she approached him and carefully touched his wrist. He jerked his hand away and hissed angrily at her, his eyes flaring with hidden anger.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snarled at her.

"I'm paying you back for helping me," she simply replied and tried again to reach for his wrists.

"What are you planning to do, Shinigami?" He narrowed his eyes at her and watched her every move.

"What does it look like I'm trying to do, idiot? I'm gonna heal your wrists." She rolled her eyes at him and finally was able to get a hold of his injured wrists.

He winced mentally when her fingers touched the sensitive skin but didn't utter a complaint. Slowly, a bright green light emitted from the palm of her hands. It sent jolts of comfort and peace through him. It felt weird that someone was trying to help him.

He remembered when he had been one of Aizen's Espada, at that time no one had cared about the other.

The feelings which were coursing through him were strange at first however he gradually began to feel genuine acceptance to them. They felt really nice.

Rukia could feel Grimmjow's attentive gaze burning through her head as she worked silently on healing his similar injuries. She knew that by doing this, she would be helping one of the most dangerous and most fearsome Espada still-alive but she couldn't help it. Since she wasn't one to fathom the idea of leaving debts, she was determined to pay him back.

When she finally finished, she sighed heavily and sat back on the floor while wiping the beads of sweat which formed from exhaustion.

Grimmjow retracted his hands and examined her work with an appraising look. Moments later, he nodded at her to thank her before he averted his sight away from her to stare at the opposite wall.

They stayed in silence until Grimmjow decided this time to break the silence. "I'm gonna kill that bastard once I get out of here," he growled in a ferocious way.

Rukia looked at him in surprise; she willed herself to stay silent and allow him to continue with whatever he had to say.

"He's nothing but a coward for using that ability of his."

"What ability?" Rukia asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly in concern for Ichigo's safety.

Grimmjow turned sharply to look at her with an aggressive look. "His Shime Tsukerareta Sakebi no Ami ability…"

* * *

"A dead end?" glowered Ichigo as he stood in front of a large cemented wall. He cursed under his breath and punched the wall rather hard creating a dent in the perfect surface of the grey wall. A few crack lines traveled along the surface but only for a short distance.

He stood there not knowing what to do. He wanted to find Rukia that was for sure but after reaching a dead end, how could he find her? All the time they were running, they hadn't passed a single turn. It was as if someone wanted them to reach this place, but for what purpose if no one was here?

Not being able to take anymore unnecessary delays, Ichigo took a step back and raised his Zanpakutou high above his head ready to unleash all the fury and frustration with a single Getsuga Tenshou. His blade started glowing black with red outlines.

"You better pull back, Renji," Ichigo advised the red-haired Shinigami, though when he got no response he called for his friend again, "Renji?"

Ichigo stopped his attack and lowered his Zanpakutou to his side, when he suddenly felt a strange sense of dread overwhelm him. Turning his head to look at Renji, he found him nowhere around him. He swallowed nervously and tightened his grip on Zangetsu unconsciously. Something didn't feel right.

Trying to find any trace of the missing red patch of hair, he gritted his teeth when he saw nothing red in his line of vision. Feeling more frustrated by the second, he suddenly felt a hostile feeling aimed at him. He prepared himself for the upcoming attacks which were sure to come as he stood there waiting for the inventible.

_There! _

He turned in time to block an attack from behind him but when the blade of his Zanpakutou connected with his attacker's weapon, the attacker disappeared again. Ichigo tried to sense his assaulter's reiatsu, but the reiatsu was concealed well.

Ichigo had a distinctive feeling as to who attacked him but he needed to feel his reiatsu to be able to counter the sure-to-come attacks. He kept his eyes sharp for any movement around him and his ears alert to pick up the slightest of sounds.

His heart was pounding in his chest as blood rushed through his veins. A sweat bead trailed down his cheek in slow motion to finally reach the tip of his chin. As it slowly dripped to the floor, another attack was commenced on Ichigo.

He was able to dodge it in time and to also nick his attacker on his cheek. A smile threatened to spread over his lips but he denied himself the satisfaction and concentrated on the business at hand. Using his quick reflexes which were learnt over the years, he took the chance of his attacker's momentary shock and went in for another attack.

He managed to land another hit on the Arrancar and slashed vertically at his chest. Blood spurted out of the new wound and dripped on the floor staining it. The Arrancar Miedo looked up at Ichigo with a bored gaze and brushed the blood trickling from his cheek with the back of his hand. He took in his shape then lifted his head to grin insanely at Ichigo.

"That's right, Kurosaki. Show me how much stronger you've become!" Miedo's eyes widened frighteningly, his fangs bared for everyone to see.

Ichigo being as hot-blooded as ever, clicked his tongue then jumped head on at his opponent aiming to slash him one more time. Miedo didn't move from his spot and stood where he was waiting for the attack. When Ichigo thought he had him, Miedo simply stepped away at the last second, leaving the orange-haired Shinigami wide open for counterattacks.

Ichigo cursed when he realized the situation he was in and prayed that his quick reflexes would save him again. However, his eyes suddenly widened when he felt something jab him in the back of his neck.

Blackness slowly crept into his vision. He could hear a few words spoken to him and his eyebrows furrowed at what he heard.

"_I have you now Kurosaki, and once I have my preparations ready, I would be the strongest in Hueco Mundo and even in Soul Society," _the voice snickered and a large smile stretched across the speaker's face. _"Then, I would be able to rule over both worlds."_

* * *

"Ichigo!" Rukia called, her eyes wide open with fear. The moment that Arrancar stepped into the room-like-prison dragging both Ichigo and Renji with him, she felt her heart drop. They looked so vulnerable.

Grimmjow scowled when he saw how Miedo ignored him and acted so care-free around him. He couldn't contain his anger and headed for an attack. Raising his fist and aiming it to punch the Arrancar in his face.

Miedo simply tossed Renji at the fuming ex-Espada causing them both to land heavily on the floor then continued to drag Ichigo with him. Grimmjow could feel his blood boiling and threw Renji off him to stand again and fight the Arrancar. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

The Scarecrow didn't bother to give much attention to the blue-haired ex-Espada and activated his ability. He slammed Ichigo against the wall hard enough to hear the sounds of cracking bones. Then left him there and allowed his ability to work its magic.

Rukia gritted her teeth and noticed the way Grimmjow was shaking with furry. She decided to make use of his anger. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to attack their capturer knowing that if she created an opening, Grimmjow would take it.

She started gathering what was left of her energy and whispered the proper incantation to release a Kidou spell. Since she was weak at the moment, she had to say the full spell in order for it to work. "Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, strike but slightly your claw upon this wall which feigns ignorance of sin!"

"Hadou no San Ju San, Soukatsui!" she shouted as she fired a burst of blue spiritual energy at the unsuspecting Arrancar. She knew that her attack had been greatly diminished in strength. But she could only hope that it was enough to distract him and give Grimmjow enough space to attack.

Grimmjow smirked as he saw the burst of energy hit its mark causing smoke to erupt. He figured that it was his turn now even though the two didn't make any sort of agreement. He raced towards his opponent while concentrating reiatsu in the palm of his hand. Slowly, a red Cero started forming but he didn't fire it. When he was within hitting range, he slammed the blast of Cero against the chest of Miedo and grinned with glee when he felt his hand connecting with the Arrancar's chest.

Grimmjow knew that this was not enough to defeat the Arrancar but he wanted to cause as much damage as he could to the person who dared humiliate him and take away his throne. When the smoke and dust cleared, he stood face to face with the black-haired Arrancar.

Miedo glared at Grimmjow with his bloodshot irises trying to intimidate him however, Grimmjow was not one to feel intimidated by others and returned Miedo's glare with one of his own. The two stood glaring at each until Miedo decided to act and end this glaring contest. He brought his leg up and kicked Grimmjow on his chest sending him flying.

Grimmjow tried to defend himself by using his forearms as a shield but he wasn't able to keep his footing on the floor and ended being thrown across the room. Rukia stood there not knowing what to do until she decided to launch another Kidou spell at the Arrancar.

Right when she was about to start another incantation, Miedo appeared before her and slapped her causing her to fall on the floor with a thud. Her lips bled and her head felt light all of a sudden, her cheek pulsed with the numbing pain. And when she looked up, she didn't see Miedo in the room anymore.

...

_Where am I?_

Ichigo felt himself floating over thin air. The feeling was neither pleasant nor unpleasant; it simply felt empty and eerie. He knew he should be panicking by now but he just didn't have the energy to do that. The feeling around him was strangely calming, it was talking him to forget about all other things, to forget about his purpose of coming here, to just let go and finally feel at peace.

It was too tempting to ignore or refuse. He felt it unfair to deny himself the opportunity of peace and rest. But then again, there was something nagging at his consciousness. There was something calling for him telling him to snap out of it and get back on his two feet already.

Acting as if he had never heard that voice would be best for him and for his mentality, that, he tried to convince himself but for the life of him, every time he tried to tune out the voice, it would return much stronger and louder than before. Just what did that voice want him to do? What did it want from him?

He looked around with half-lidded eyes. His lips barely cracked open and his arms were as if trying to hold on to something, _anything._

"_Ichigo, for how long are you going to pretend that you can't hear that voice calling you?" _another voice yet strong and deep asked calmly. _"For how long are you going to keep giving up? Aren't you tired of giving up? Aren't you tired of feeling always lost and weak?" _

For a long time, Ichigo didn't reply. He just stayed in his place reflecting over the words spoken to him. His throat felt dry and he had to swallow to soften the raw feeling in it. He agreed with the deep voice. For how long was he going to be weak? For how long was he going to need someone to lecture him about that and help him?

His fingers twitched slightly and to his relief, his dark world slowly started changing to a brighter place. He opened his eyes wide and took in his surroundings. Frowning a little, he found himself in a bad position. Something was holding his arms pinning them on each side. He was left on his knees and had to raise his head to survey the place.

Finally, he saw his source of annoyance and also happiness. He saw Rukia, kneeling beside him. She had a worried look on her face and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. He tried to move his hand to touch her face and feel the silky feeling of her skin against his fingertips but could do so much as to imagine himself touching her. He couldn't move his arms let alone his fingers.

He felt his strength slowly draining away from him. There was something wrong with him. He hadn't fought yet, not even so much as used his reiatsu to a degree of depletion. He gritted his teeth and deepened his scowl. That was when he identified another presence in the place.

"That's what I've been telling you about, woman." A blue-haired man sat at the far end of the room, leaning against the brick wall with one knee propped up to support his right arm. He had a serious look on his face and a scowl which matched Ichigo's in intensity.

"Ichigo..." Rukia used the palm of her hand to cover her mouth and took a slight step back to take a good look at Ichigo's prone-to-attacks form.

A sticky-looking web with black strings marred the wall behind him. The black strings seemed to have attached themselves to Ichigo's back and pulled him against the wall to the web. A few of the dreadful strings snuck to his body, one of them ran all the way from his back to his neck to finally settle on his cheek. A few branches came out of it and dived into Ichigo's veins. Another one attacked the veins in his chest while other ones took their time in reaching their designed spots to attack. Of course, his arms were not spared the torture of sucking the energy away.

The strings pulsed with raw power as they continued to take in as much as they could from the orange-haired Shinigami. Hot tears stung at the corners of Rukia's eyes and she had to hold back a sob from coming out when she saw Ichigo smiling at her comfortingly.

"Rukia, don't cry," he said gently and gave her a smile which was only reserved for her. "Don't worry; I'll get you out of here. Just let me figure out how to get myself out of this mess and I'll make sure to bring you back to Soul Society."

And that exactly what made tears run freely down Rukia's cheeks. She tried to wipe them away as soon as they came but they just wouldn't stop falling so she simply gave up on doing that and instead neared her lover with a smile of belief.

"Sure, I know you'll do that Ichigo. I know you can figure something out but you're not going to do it all alone. I'm going to help you get out of this mess so you can help me," she told him in her normal strict voice all the while tears streaming down her face.

She decided to test how strong the web was before doing anything else. She gripped one of the black wires and started pulling at it and just as she expected: they weren't easy to cut or damage. As a matter of a fact, they slid from her hands whenever she put more force behind her pulling. Well, they certainly didn't look sticky for nothing.

Ichigo watched her through clouded eyes as his vision became foggier with every second passing. He swallowed heavily and settled on letting his head drop to save as much energy as possible. Rukia noticed this and pulled harder on the strings but as expected, they kept sliding away from her hands.

She cursed under her breath. It wasn't like she had any energy left to spare, she was putting her all into freeing her lover. She gave up on pulling the strings and settled on trying something else. She figured if she couldn't remove the source, she could always try removing the branches.

Cautiously, she held the string which lodged itself into Ichigo's cheek and carefully pulled at it. Sure enough, it started dislodging itself from his skin. Though, she quickly stopped when she realized the consequences of her actions. Red liquid started trickling down Ichigo's cheek. She discovered that using force while pulling it did nothing but damage the blood-vessels.

She sat back and surveyed the damage which was done. Fortunately, only a small trail of blood seeped from the wound she accidently caused. She bit her lower lip and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. She needed to do something, anything!

Losing Ichigo was out of the question. She didn't even want to think about that possibility. So whenever it surfaced in her mind, she would push it to deepest corners of her mind. She looked around her for anything sharp which could be used to cut the sticky strings, but there wasn't anything of that sort. When she remembered the cuffs which were used to bound her wrists. She quickly jumped to her feet in search for them and when she found them, she hurried back to Ichigo's side.

She attempted using the sharp edges of the ivory cuffs for her favor. Carefully, she made a movement with her hand of moving back and forth against one of the strings. She kept at it for quite some time until she figured that nothing would come out of it. She sighed heavily and took a look at the orange-haired man.

She cupped his face and raised it to make him look at her. "Ichigo, Ichigo," she called him gently. Her eyes were puffy and red from her previous crying. Her face was so close to his that she could feel his soft breathing against her face.

"Nh...R-Rukia?" He barely managed to crack his eyes open to get a decent look at the woman before him. When he finally saw her, he smiled again and pushed himself to close the gap between their lips. He kissed her tenderly and lovingly, trying to show her how much he appreciated her and how deeply he cared for her and loved her.

Rukia kissed him back with the same amount of love and passion. Her hands slowly sneaked to the back of his neck to push him further to her. Giving his hair as much attention as his lips, she wanted to remember every detail about him. Her delicate fingers ran through his orange wild hair and memorized the feeling of his every lock against her fingertips.

Grimmjow, unable to watch the scene unfolding before him, decided to do better things than look at the couple in front of him. Even though he had wanted to see his long-last enemy for so long on the verge of death, this hadn't exactly been what he'd been waiting for.

He wanted to be the one to make the orange-haired idiot suffer and die but this, this just felt annoying and disgusting. He glanced to his right to see a patch of red hair and snickered at the weakness of this Shinigami. He wasn't even worth sucking energy from. _Pitiful weakling…_

Grimmjow closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him, when he felt the familiar presence he grew accustomed to over the few hours come closer to him. He smirked and stared at her from beneath half-lidded eyes.

"What do you want, woman?" he asked, interested in what this Shinigami could want from him.

"From the way you talked about this ability, I'm guessing you've experienced it and from the looks of it you've survived it." Rukia took the privilege of being able to tower over the blue-haired former Espada and looked down on him. Her look was hard and her eyes were shining with unyielding force.

"So..?" he asked amused, trying to ruffle her feathers as best he could with his almost mocking tone.

"I want you to tell me how you escaped it," she stated.

"Hn… why should I, an Arrancar and a former Espada, help you, Shinigami?" He returned her stare with a cold one and waited to see what she would say.

"If you leave Ichigo to die right now, you wouldn't be able to fight against him again," she tried to reason with him and waited for his reply.

"I'm not interested in him anymore. He's nothing but a pitiful fool," Grimmjow told her and averted his eyes to look at anything but her.

Rukia clenched her fists tightly till her knuckles turned white from blood loss and lowered her head to hide her eyes from view. She bit her lower lip and forced her eyes shut.

When she raised her head back up, she had a look of complete determination, her eyebrows were knitted together to form a perfect frown and her fists shook at her sides.

The sound of skin against skin sounded throughout the room. Grimmjow's head was turned to the side and he had a look of complete surprise over his face. He couldn't believe what had just happened. But he knew that he wasn't dreaming when his cheek throbbed with numbing pain.

He raised his hand slowly as if caught in a trance and touched his stinging cheek. His mouth was slightly open. When he stared up to look at the raven-haired Shinigami, he couldn't contain his anger. In a blink of an eye, he jumped to his feet and caught her by the collar of her robes. He slammed her back against the wall and tightened his grip on her.

"How dare you, woman?" he hissed angrily, his mouth was near her ear and she could feel her blood running cold at their proximity.

Rukia knew that what she did was a terrible thing to do. Slapping an ex-Espada was definitely not the smartest thing to do. And to top it, she was unarmed which made things look grim for her. However, her determined stare didn't waver and her eyes didn't show the slightest hint of fear.

She matched his glare with a one of her own and clenched her teeth whenever he tightened his hold on her. She didn't want to show any sign of weakness nor submission.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at the unyielding woman before him and growled at her, "Do you want to die that much, is that it?"

"I don't have death on my mind," Rukia replied haughtily.

"Then the fuck were you think about?" he pulled her face closer to his as if that was even possible. They were mere inches apart from each other, his nose almost touching hers.

"All I want to know is how you escaped from a damn ability, but no, you wouldn't tell me because you don't want to save the life of the one you hate," she spat out.

Grimmjow simply narrowed his eyes at her and tightened his hold on her collar making her wince from the pressure. It gave him pleasure to see her pained expression which drew a satisfied grin across his lips.

"R-Rukia! You bastard, let her go!" Ichigo struggled at what was holding him in attempt to free himself. But the harder he pulled the more blood he drew out of his new wounds. The minute he saw Grimmjow holding her like that, his heart stopped in his chest and he wanted nothing more than to save her from the savage beast before her.

However, Grimmjow paid him no mind and simply ignored him; he was too occupied with the petite Shinigami to give anyone his attention.

"W-why can't you for once just let go of your hatred and help someone out? Ichigo is going to die, is that what you truly want to happen? Don't you want to be the one who gets to kill him?" she stared at him between half-lidded eyes. "I know you're not as evil as you used to be when we first met you. You've even helped me and broke my cuffs so why can't you help him too?"

He looked at her a little bit hesitant and at a loss of words so he settled on pushing her harder against the wall to hide his lack of anything to say.

"W-what's wrong, Espada? Don't you have anything to say?" she said between her gasps trying to get hold of air as much as she could.

For a long time, he didn't say anything; he simply stared at her thinking over what she said, until he sighed heavily and stopped what he was doing while clicking his tongue in annoyance. He granted her permission to be able to breathe again and released his hold on her but didn't move from his spot, keeping her trapped between him and the wall.

He placed his hands on the wall on both sides of her head then leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "I'm not doing it for you or for him. I'm doing it because I want to be the one who's gonna kick his ass." He wanted to make sure that he got his point clear so as not to confuse his motivations with silly emotions.

He saw her smile and growled at her before moving towards the orange-haired substitute Shinigami. He kneeled in front of him and held his chin to push his face up. "You're lucky to have a woman strong enough to fight for you, Kurosaki."

Ichigo stared at him for some time before replying, "I know."

Grimmjow smirked and let go of his chin to head back to where he was sitting. He sat on the floor and heaved a large sigh.

"So how did you free yourself?" Rukia asked again.

"I didn't free myself. I'm still bound to it." Grimmjow stated.

And suddenly, everything fell into place. Now she realized why he looked tired and almost out of reiatsu all the time.

...

To Be Continued…

* * *

_I'm really embarrassed of you all, I took a long time to update, shame on me…So sorry everyone! But what can I say? This was the hardest and the longest chapter ever! I just hope that I kept everyone in character. I never had this much trouble writing them._

_So now, you all know why Grimmjow is weak and tired. Well, I just wanted to give you all a brief explanation about various things. So here goes:_

_The reason why I keep showing that Ichigo is weak is because in my mind and in this story he is broken. As you already know, he had lost all of his family and friends at a somewhat convergent time, so it's only natural that his soul would be broken and be heavily damaged. Even though he has Rukia, she keeps getting in danger because of him which in turn furthers the damage of his soul._

_As you can see, he keeps blaming himself for everything that happens to her which only makes sense for people in his situation. Therefore, it's hardly possible for me to just heal his soul and make him strong all of a sudden and to be able to kick everyone's asses, that would be too cliché. _

_That's why I'm showing you how much he's suffering and how terribly wounded he is, to the point that recovery might be impossible. Because after all the things he's been through, it's going to take a long time for him to finally let go of the past and move on._

_He still blames himself for his mother's death and only recently learnt to let go a little but he still blames himself deep down. So yeah…that's pretty much it. I hope this helps and if you have anything that you would like to ask me, feel free to do so :D_

...

_Shime Tsukerareta Sakebi no Ami: Web of Strangled Cries_

...

_Have a great week!_

_~KWF~_


	15. A New Day

**Breathe Your Life into Me**

…

**I don't own Bleach!**

**Chapter fifteen**

* * *

The brilliant sun shone, casting its rays of light illuminating the town below. The wind of October whistled as it blew past an unsuspecting passerby. Voices of children could be heard from the distance as they laughed while playing with the snow.

Rukia walked down the road with a serene smile on her face. She headed towards the one place that changed her life the most. She felt the presence of her orange haired companion and her smile stretched into a grin.

Closing her eyes, she sighed in contentment as she felt him wrap his arm around her, giving her the courage and love that she desired for the longest time. She opened her violet eyes to glance at his mature face.

She memorized his peaceful features and kept them at heart for the future. Her eyes took her to his pale lips and she relished in the memory of them being pressed to her own pair. She remembered the feeling of his warmth seeping into her very core, engulfing her in a blanket of security and safety.

He had to have noticed her staring at him for he turned his face to look at her with a small smirk. Rukia's cheeks turned a hue of red when she realized that she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. However, she didn't dare break eye-contact with him for fear of losing him.

His beautiful hazel eyes were simply too breath-taking for her to be able to stop looking at them. She just noticed that amidst the brilliant swirl of hazel hid freckles of amber shining whenever the sun hit the right angle.

She opted to break the silence that seemed so insistent to envelope them, when a cool finger touched her mouth and her orange-haired companion simply smiled at her with a twinkle in his eyes. Rukia felt something in her heart clench at the motion and she obeyed his unspoken order.

Not realizing that in her daze she reached her desired destination, she felt a small tug from her companion. She turned to him with a questioning stare. He simply answered her with a tilt of his head. She followed his line of sight and her breath hitched in her throat when she felt his arm unwrap itself from around her.

She wanted to object but something in her prevented her from voicing out her objections.

"Ichigo…" she wanted to whisper but for the life of her, she couldn't make her voice work and the name simply stuck in her throat.

She saw him nod his head at her as if he had heard her calling his name. He started moving away from her when she tried to reach him.

"You have to let me go, Rukia." Ichigo's voice came no more than a whisper but it felt to Rukia as if he had screamed his plea to her.

She couldn't bear tearing her eyes from him and tried to protest when he suddenly stood before her and hugged her like there was no tomorrow. At that single moment, she felt her heart shatter to thousands of sharp pieces. Her eyes widened briefly before shuttering close in resignation. Hugging back just as fiercely, she mumbled into his shirt a silent promise of devotion, "I will always love you, Ichigo."

She felt him kissing the top of her head before the wind carried his own promise of love to her. Memories came rushing back to her with a jolt and she couldn't help but let herself whisked by them.

* * *

"_What do you mean, 'you're still bound to it'?" Rukia asked incredulously, still not quite believing the former Espada. It was still hard to trust him after all the things that he had done in the past but she was still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt._

"_It's just as you heard me, woman. Don't make me repeat myself," Grimmjow growled lowly as he made himself comfortable on the cold floor._

_Rukia huffed in annoyance. She could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead. She was not in the mood to play miss-nice-shinigami at the moment. _

"_Then do you know how to break it?" she asked, trying to hide the eagerness from her voice._

_Grimmjow spared her a brief glance before scoffing at her and mumbling something incoherent under his breath. Rukia's eyes narrowed at his antiques and she resisted the urge to go and slap the back of his head. He was being such an ass at a very bad time and this was definitely not the time to be Mr. Yes-I'm-an-asshole-and-I-only-care-about-number-one._

"_Well…?" she asked again, hoping beyond hope that he would be of some use to her. She chanced a look at Ichigo and her brows creased in a worried frown. He looked paler than usual and he was sweating a lot. Not to mention, his breaths were coming in short gasps. _

_She bit her lower lip before turning to look back at the proud Espada. She noticed his staring at her with an unreadable glint in his azure eyes before he turned his head away._

_Grimmjow sighed in annoyance before finally making up his mind to help them. That way, he would also help himself get rid of these nasty bounds. He only succeeded in moving most of them before he ran out of reiatsu to take out the rest. _

"_Yeah, I know a way. But it's gonna take a helluva lot of reiatsu to do this right," he said in a gruff voice._

_Rukia's eyes practically shone with undeniable hope with a hint of gratitude in them. She waited for him eagerly to start explaining the drill of things so that they could start working on it as soon as possible. After all, with the way things were looking the sooner the better._

_A muffled groan came from next to Ichigo and Rukia saw that her red-haired childhood friend was starting to come to it. _

"_Renji!" she practically screamed his name as she rushed to his side and helped him sit up._

_Renji rubbed the sore spot on his head as he blinked stars out of his vision. "Rukia?" he questioned when his eyes widened as the past events came rushing back to him._

"_Relax, Renji. He's gone for now," she assured him and felt him visibly relax._

_Renji rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head and looked around the place. He could make a few holes in the walls but nothing remarkable as to give him hope of breaking out of this cold cell. _

"_Mah, we have to be prepared next time. We can't simply be his punching bags whenever he wants," said Renji as he gritted his teeth in frustration at their latest humiliation._

_Rukia bowed her head and stood up when she heard Grimmjow scoff. _

"_Talk about your ass being a punching bag not mine, Pineapple."_

"_What did you say?" Renji hissed and started to stand when Rukia held her hand out in a silent command for him to stay still. He gritted his teeth but complied without further complaint. _

"_Yeah, keep your dog in leash, woman. You don't want him running off and doing anything stupid," Grimmjow mocked with a taunting smirk. _

_Rukia's eyes hardened and she took a deep calming breath before she spoke, "This is not the time to fight. But since you mentioned a leash, I'm more than willing to put one on you, kitty." _

_A smirk. _

_A raise of the head. _

_The blow hit the mark._

_The Kuchiki attitude never failing and always coming in handy._

_Renji snickered behind her at the dumbfounded expression written all over the former Espada's face. After a few moments, surprise turned into anger and a warning growl erupted from deep within Grimmjow's chest. _

_Rukia stood tall and proud, facing him without any fear. Sure, she needed his help to free Ichigo but he was taking things too far. Humiliating her and her friend too which according to the Kuchiki standards was not acceptable at all. _

_The staring contest went on for a few tense moments before Grimmjow averted his eyes with a muttered, "Whatever." He wasn't up to another fight and didn't feel like ruining the only chance he had of getting out of this reeking hell hole._

_He would never admit to it but he too needed some help and those shinigami just happened to be around. He wanted to be free and to kick that arrogant wanna-be Espada's ass to Hell and back. _

_Rukia felt a little of the bent up tension residing in her chest lessen a little and let out a sigh of relief. At least, things were going their way for a change. She knew that she was no match for an angry Espada even if his reiatsu was depleted. So, when he showed no sign of attacking her, she felt that she could breathe a little easier._

_She smiled at Grimmjow and motioned for him to start talking about that method of his. He pointedly ignored her at first and Rukia furrowed her brows in worry. Maybe, he changed his mind and he didn't want to help them? Or maybe, he was only bluffing and there was no method whatsoever? She fervently prayed that, that was not the case and that he was taking his _sweet _time in organizing his thoughts or doing whatever he was doing._

_Hope started draining out of her fast when she saw no sign of willingness to speak. Her eyes started welling up unconsciously and she averted her eyes to stare at Ichigo's pale face. She took the first step when she heard him speaking, "This is not gonna be a piece of cake for you, shinigami." He directed his speech to her._

_Her head snapped to look at him and her eyes filled up with relief when she heard continuing. _

"_These things, you can't just take them off with a switch. The host's body has to be in a near death-state for them to loosen up a little and that's where you come," said Grimmjow, his tone of voice eerily calm and even._

_Rukia frowned at the prospect of having to wait until Ichigo was completely drained and almost dead._

"_Are you trying to tell me that Ichigo must be within an inch of his life to get them off?" Rukia replied uncertainly._

"_That's exactly what I'm saying. Then you and your little friend over there will shoot one of your petty spells at them and take them off." He motioned at Renji with his hand, "Of course, there's no guarantee that Kurosaki over there will survive."_

"_You twisted son of bitch!" Renji yelled and attempted to attack the blue-haired Arrancar when he noticed Rukia's state._

_Rukia felt nauseated at the mere idea of letting Ichigo reach such a dangerous ledge. She put a hand on her forehead and sucked in shuddering breaths. She felt suffocated in this place; almost as if all the air in there had been sucked away and none was left for her to breathe in._

"_Rukia…" Renji said worriedly, forgetting all about attacking the arrogant Arrancar for a minute, and took hold of her shoulders gently in an attempt to keep her grounded. "Don't worry, we'll find another way," he assured her. He didn't know if he would be able to find something else but he'd be damned if he had to watch Rukia in that heartbreaking state or to see Ichigo on the brink of death again._

"_Do what you want. But, there's no other way." Grimmjow waved them off. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes._

"_Renji…there is no other way." She looked at him, eyes full with unshed tears but also with determination. And he knew at that moment that Rukia was going to go through with this, that she trusted that arrogant bastard enough to take his word._

_He nodded feebly and stepped back. His hands fell to his sides and formed fists of desperation._

" _We'll do it," she admonished. _

_A maniac grin split Grimmjow's lips and his eyes glinted in an unreadable emotion that made Rukia's heart skip a beat in fear. But, she held her ground and stood by her decision. _

_For some reason, she felt as if she had just made a deal with the devil himself._

"_Let's start with draining sleeping beauty over there to speed up the process, shall we?" Grimmjow stood and started walking towards Ichigo's weak form when Rukia stopped him._

"_Wait, how do I know that you're not trying to trick us?" she asked haughtily._

"_That's where the fun part is: You don't," he leered in her face. He raised his eyebrows and dared her to say anything else._

_She looked hesitantly between Ichigo and him before relenting and nodding slowly._

_His grin got bigger if that was even possible and he marched towards the unsuspecting orange-haired shinigami._

_He reached Ichigo's side and grabbed the front of his black robes and hissed, "Nice to see you again, Kurosaki. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking your reiatsu." He gripped the side of his head none-too-gently and immediately black waves of reiatsu started flowing. Ichigo groaned softly but his eyes remained close. Rukia fisted her hands to keep herself from jumping at the Arrancar._

"_All done," Grimmjow drawled as he let go of the too-pale shinigami and stared in awe at his hands. He could practically feel the power pumping through his veins, replenishing his lost reiatsu. Savoring the feeling, he closed his eyes as he focused on a spot between his shoulder blades and felt the reiatsu-sucking-threads break under the onslaught of offensive reiatsu. _

_He breathed in relief and re-opened his eyes just in time to see the woman and red haired fellow scrambling to help Kurosaki. _

_Rukia touched Ichigo's forehead and willed him to just open his eyes and look at her. She prayed that she didn't make the wrong decision and kil-No! She did NOT kill him. Anything but to go down that road…_

_She turned to see Grimmjow flexing his arms and creased her eyebrows. Didn't he say that he was bound…? Well, that did not look 'bounded' to her with the way he was moving freely, _much freely.

_Grimmjow caught her eyes just in time to shoot her a menacing smirk, when Rukia realized that he lied to her. _

"_You said that this was the only way!" she yelled._

_He arched his eyebrows in amusement before replying, "Well, I lied."_

_Rukia felt her blood run cold at that, rage bubbled in her chest and she lashed out at him without thinking through her actions. "You fucking asshole! You manipulated me! You fucking let me basically hand over Ichigo on a silver platter for you, you sick son-of-a-bitch!" Red rage blinded her and all too quickly she found herself unsheathing her sword and attacking head first with no strategy in mind._

_Fortunately, Renji was able to come out as level-minded and effectively held Rukia back by her waist and disarmed her. All the while, Grimmjow stood smirking with an amused look covering his face. Renji gritted his teeth as he tried to calm down his raged friend and talk logic into her head. It wouldn't do them any good if she got herself hurt fighting a sneaking unworthy liar._

"_Rukia! We can still help him! Get a grip of yourself!" He shook her shoulders frantically. He felt her crumple in his hands as rage filled curses and lashing arms turned into sorrowful sobs and clinging hands. _

"_I killed him, Renji. I killed him. It's my entire fault," she cried helplessly._

_He squeezed her shoulders trying to comfort her and gently coaxed her to look at her lover's form. "You did not kill him. He's still alive. See, he's still breathing. He's strong, Rukia, he'll never die from something like this," he whispered softly._

_Grimmjow watched the whole thing and clicked his tongue. "Sure I lied. But I didn't say that this one won't work, now did I?" he continued offhandedly, "if I were you, I'd take all the reiatsu in those twigs before they dry off."_

_Rukia turned surprised eyes at him before hastily doing what he said. In a matter of few minutes, Renji and Rukia were able to gather all the still usable twigs and transfer the reiatsu in them back to Ichigo. All they had to do now was to wait for him to open his eyes. It didn't take long for him to abide by their wishes and to stir out of sleepless slumber. _

_Ichigo sat up with a jolt stared unseeingly ahead before he finally registered where he was. "Ichigo…"Rukia whispered her voice quivering with fear. She hugged him tightly for fear of this not being real. She felt a huge weight lifting off her chest. _

_Ichigo was a bit surprised but hugged her just as tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Rukia, it's so great to see you again." He smiled softly. _

_Renji stood back to give them some privacy and watched the previous Espada with wariness. _

_After what seemed like ages but was in reality a few minutes, they finally broke apart. They couldn't seem to get enough of each other. Ichigo kissed Rukia softly, savoring the sweet taste of her on his lips before reluctantly breaking the kiss. _

_She smiled at him, genuinely happy for what seemed like the first time in a very long time. "You're a big huge idiot, you know that?" she asked lightly with a smile._

_Ichigo blinked innocently before rubbing the back of his head. "C'mon, that what you say to someone who came to rescue you?" _

_She shook her head and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "What a great rescue you managed to pull off."_

_He smiled sheepishly and said, "Thanks for the help." _

_Rukia smiled back. "Thanks for coming."_

"_Ok, guys, we're all happy now. Can we start moving any time today?" Renji clapped his hands and grinned at his two friends. _

_Ichigo looked up at his friend sheepishly and started to stand when he felt a clap against his back. "Glad you're back on your feet, man. Don't wanna have to carry your dead ass back again," Renji joked._

"_Wouldn't dream of it," Ichigo replied with a smile._

* * *

A lone silent tear escaped its prison and created a road for itself across white milky skin. Rukia clenched her teeth in preparation to the memory she knew would come next. She brushed her sign of weakness hastily and adjusted her coat against the sudden bite of cold.

In all honesty, she never believed that, that day would have come so soon. Not after she had finally found peace with Kaien's death.

It hurt. It hurt so much that she barely knew what to do with this kind of heartache. A stroll down memory path had her at the life-altering point.

* * *

"_Kurosaki Ichigo. I see those _ants _helped you escape. I knew I shouldn't have left you with them, such persisting insects," Miedo's voice thundered from an unknown point in Los Noches._

_A sudden feeling of dread rushed up Ichigo's spine and just as easily panic for Rukia's safety followed. His immediate reaction was to make sure that she was by his side and was relieved to feel her hand seeking his. He grasped it squeezing it reassuringly._

"_And you Grimmjow, never thought you to be such a little traitor to want to join forces with these filthy shinigami," he mocked the former Espada, spitting the last part haughtily, "Then again, I wouldn't have expected more from you." _

_Said Espada bared his teeth and a deep growl rumbled deep in his chest at the impudence of one asshole with an ego the size of this hell hole. "Why don't you skip this shit and show yourself already?" Grimmjow snarled in retaliation. _

"_Behind you, traitor." _

_Grimmjow's eyes widened momentarily before he was tossed through the room with the swipe of Miedo's hand. He didn't even have the time to comprehend what happened as he crashed back first against the wall denting it slightly. He gasped for the stolen air as he felt his lungs burning with need._

_Miedo looked back at Ichigo and smirked at him before disappearing one more time to appear behind the raven haired shinigami. She gasped for air as Miedo held her by the neck and steadily applied pressure wounding her larynx. _

_One minute Rukia was by Ichigo's side and the next she was gone._

"_Rukia!" Ichigo shouted at the top of his lungs as he raced to save the love of his life. He registered at the back of his mind that Renji was also running to save the petite shinigami from the clutches of this ruthless Arrancar. His mind replayed the tragedies of his life like a broken record and that strengthened his will to save the only dear person left in this world. _

Not like this. Not like this. Not like this. Nononono! I'm not gonna lose her too. Not her! _He chanted over and over as he saw her movements slowing little by little. _

"_Best way to destroy the enemy is by destroying his heart first," Miedo taunted._

"_Guran rei sero."_

_A huge blast of sphere-like shape of flaming blue hit its mark. A cloud of dust formed around the collision point between the powerful wave of reiatsu and the arrogant Arrancar. Ichigo flash stepped to see Rukia hunched over coughing with Miedo nowhere in sight. _

_He carried her bridal style and flash stepped away from the gaping crater in the floor that the blast created. _

"_Don't ever think that you've won just 'cuz ya got a hit on me," Grimmjow sneered. _

_Miedo dusted himself off carefully as if he got the time of his life. "I have both yours and Kurosaki's reiatsu in me. You'll never be able to beat me." Miedo gloated. "Give it up."_

_Grimmjow scoffed. He spit a mouthful of blood to the side. "Yeah right, and I'm Ulquiorra Cifer. Why don't _you_ give it up? " he retorted easily._

_Ichigo shot a look of gratitude at the proud Espada whom pointedly ignored him, before he inspected Rukia's neck. _

"_Are you ok?" he asked her worriedly as he looked at the swollen red bruises forming around her neck. That would soon turn to a collection of rainbow colors, he noted. He continued to flash step away determined to put as much space between Rukia and Miedo._

_When Ichigo was satisfied that he was far enough from the battle going between the two Arrancar, he lowered Rukia down. He noted that Renji was standing a few feet behind him giving them the privacy they needed. He mentally thanked him for his consideration._

"_I'm fine, Ichigo. Just a little roughened up," she replied as she pushed herself to her feet. "Now, where's that son of a bitch? I got a score to settle with him." _

"_Wow, hold it right there. You're not going to settle anything." _

"_Huh? What do you mean?" She furrowed her eyebrows warily._

"_You're going back to Soul Society with Renji." Ichigo raised his eyebrows challenging her to fight him back. _

_He was not disappointed._

"_What? No one's going back with Renji. In fact, no one's gonna go back to Soul Society. We're in this _together _or did you forget?" Rukia was furious. She didn't know whether to be offended by his suggestion or touched by his concern for her. Eventually, the former won and she couldn't rein in her temper. _

"_Listen to me; I'm not going to lose you to this. I won't stand by as another person dies because of me. You're going back. End of story." Ichigo said seriously, his eyes bearing a resolve unlike any other._

"_I'm not going to lose you either! How is it fair that I have to live with the possibility of never seeing you again? Huh! We're supposed to be in this together. We're supposed to be a team for all that it matters! I told you once that I will not stand _behind_ you; I'll stand _beside_ you-" _

_Before Rukia could get anything else out, her lips were assaulted by a pair of soft yet demanding ones. Ichigo kissed Rukia for all that it was worth. He tried to convey his chaotic emotions of love, sadness, frustration and despair. He tried to tell her about his darkest fears and worst nightmares as he claimed her lips over and over and marked her as his. He was a mess inside and he knew it but deep down he had always known that this day would come for him and he had made his decision._

_Rukia was left in a daze from the cacophony of emotions she was hammered with all at once. She tried to respond back just as heatedly turning the forlorn kiss all the more desperate._

_After what seemed like ages but was in reality mere minutes, they separated. However, Ichigo kept a firm arm around her waist and leaned his forehead against hers. Some time along the kiss, tears spilled from Rukia's eyes and she held onto Ichigo as best she could. The minute Ichigo had touched his lips to hers; she realized that this was it. That he had made his decision and that there was no going back for either of them._

"_No, Ichigo. Please, don't," she pleaded brokenly._

_Ichigo just gave her a small sad smile and kissed her forehead one last time._

"_I have to…" he began, uncertain of how he would make her understand._

"_No, you don't!" _

_He sighed heavily as he gently started moving her hands from him. He held both of them in his own warm ones. _

"_Shush, don't cry," he cooed softly. "Listen Rukia, I need you to listen to me carefully."_

_Rukia shook her head repeatedly as silent tears turned to hitched breaths and hiccupped sobs. _

"_No. Listen, I need you to know that no matter what happens I love you. I've always loved you and I always will. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Rukia. Don't you ever forget that. I need you to promise me that you will live the life I couldn't live. Rukia, hey, you have to at least give me that," he gently cupped her cheeks and wiped the continuous stream of tears. _

"_Why should I give you anything? I won't let you do this. No!" _

_Sobs wracked her petite frame and tears clouded her vision. This was not happening. This was just a bad dream, a nightmare, a figment of her sick twisted imagination._

"_Hey, can't you give a man a final wish?" Ichigo said jokingly trying to lighten up the mood and lessen the suffocating tension between them. His attempt failed terribly._

_She hit his chest repeatedly with her fists until she couldn't anymore. Ichigo embraced her tightly one last time. "Thank you, Rukia," he thanked her, "For everything."_

_Somewhere in the background, shouts and curses bellowed over the booming sounds of crashing bodies against concert walls. Dust flew from crates in the ground and dents in the walls. Blasts of reiatsu were exchanged between both Arrancar and blood was spilt from various wounds._

_With a nod of Ichigo's head, Renji knew that their time was up. Entrusted with the task of taking Rukia back to the safety of Soul Society, Renji was a man on a mission. _

"_Take good care of her, Renji," Ichigo said as he clasped the hand of the other shinigami and shook it firmly. _

"_You know I will." Renji pursed his lips. He didn't like this as much as Rukia but he had a job to do and that was to keep Rukia safe against all odds. Even at the cost of his own life._

_At first, Rukia didn't make a move to acknowledge her childhood friend until he started ushering her away from the fight, away from Ichigo. _

_She spun around with a glare unlike any other Ichigo had ever witnessed before and pointed at him with an accusing finger. "You are an asshole! You are a selfish jackass who only thinks of himself and of his own feelings but you know what? I happen to care about your pitiful ass and when you die I have to live with that!" _

_With every word, she came closer to him before she was grabbed by Renji and tossed over his shoulder with a grim face. "Let me go, Renji or I swear to God I'll fucking kill you! Let me go! Ichigo, if you have the least bit of dignity, come and face me you sick bastard! Ichigo, you coward! Don't you do this! DON'T YOU DO THIS!"_

_She tried to free herself from the iron grip she was held captive by. She kicked, screamed, insulted, punched even went as far as bit. But still, Renji's grip didn't loosen and his determination didn't waver. If anything, it became stronger and his grip became tighter. _

_When nothing worked Rukia succumbed to the insistent urge of crying and her attempts ceased to exist. Last thing she registered hearing was the sound of bone-chilling laughter and menacing words._

"You're mine."

_Renji hated this. He hated this entire situation. He hated leaving his best friend and rival in the line of fire. He hated seeing his childhood friend crying herself to oblivion. And above all, he hated being the one to see the shell that Rukia would surely become._

...

_Two weeks had passed since then. _

_Renji managed to bring Rukia back to the safety that the Soul society walls provided. He was silently thanked by her brother, Kuchiki Byakuya even though he knew he didn't deserve any of his gratitude. Though, he tried to avoid answering the questioning looks that Byakuya occasionally shot him._

_Where is Kurosaki?_

_He didn't have the heart to admit that his friend was quite possibly dead._

_He was ashamed. Disgusted. He was forced to leave a fellow shinigami, a friend in battle against an impossibly strong enemy. He had tried more than once to get back to Hueco Mundo but was unable to. Security around the passage way to that dreadful place was almost impossible to breach. Yamamoto Genryuusai certainly made sure of that. _

_Renji walked towards the forth division barricades to check on his long time friend. His feet guided him automatically to her room, passing many of this division's members on the way without actually seeing them._

_He stopped at one specific door arguing with himself whether he should wait for another day or just barge in and get this awkward moment over with._

"_What did this poor door do to you to deserve such a frightening glare?" Unohana Retsu, captain of the forth division asked with a comforting smile._

"_Huh? Oh, Unohana-taichou…I was just… "he trailed off, unsure how to continue. He was so deep in thought he didn't even notice that he was standing in front of Rukia's door room boring holes into said door. _

"_Give her time, Abarai-fukutaichou. What Kuchiki-san needs right now is a friend and I have a feeling that you will be able to fulfill that role excellently," she said encouragingly before walking away to tend to other business._

_He stared after her for awhile pondering over what she said. Shaking his head, he knocked softly on the wooden door waiting for a reply._

_Seconds stretched to minutes and still there was no reply. Renji sighed heavily, he expected as much. For the last two weeks since they were back, Rukia had refused to talk to him much less see him or have anything to do with him. He knew that this was the reaction waiting for him and thought he would be able to take her harsh treatment, more like none-existent for lack of better words. However, it still stung and left a painful ache in his heart._

_He pushed the door open with a warning that he was coming in regardless of her desires and stood tall next to a chair in the far corner of the room. He tried clearing his throat a couple of times, wanting her to at least look at him, acknowledge him but he got nothing in return, not like he had expected her to have a sudden change in heart. _

_Still, a man can only hope…_

_Rukia sat still on the soft bed and stared outside the open window, not quite registering anything around her. Her eyes were distant and her face was a tad too pale to pass for being healthy. She didn't care about anything at the moment, not after she lost the person she loved the most in this world. She gritted her teeth as she remembered the look of pure devastation and hurt flicker in his hazel eyes as she threw insults at him one after the other before the hidden walls were up again. _

"_Rukia…" Renji began unsure whether he should continue or not. He didn't need to wait any longer when finally the dam was down and the sitting shell that was Kuchiki Rukia broke._

"_Don't." It was a silent plea for him not to say anything regarding what happened two weeks prior._

"_Rukia, look at me. This, that you're doing? It has to stop. Ichigo wouldn't want you to sit around looking like this dead shell."_

"_Please, Renji. Stop," she pleaded as she turned eyes welling with unshed tears. She fisted the sheets in her hands as she tried to rein in her erratic heartbeat and uncontrollable sadness and devastation. _

_For a moment, Renji couldn't help but be taken aback by the intensity of her grief and found himself walking towards her. He hugged her to his chest as he felt her crumble in his arms, sobbing and holding onto him as if for dear life. _

_He mumbled soothing words of comfort as he took in her grief and shouldered the blame for it. _

"_W-why? Why d-did he have to b-be so d-difficult? Why does h-he always h-have to sacrifice h-himself?" she managed between hiccups. "I-I hate him. I h-hate him."_

_Renji rubbed soothing circles on her back. "No you don't. You just love him too much to want to let go."_

_If it were possible, Rukia cried harder in his arms. It went on for some time until eventually he noticed that she began leaning heavily against him. He took hold of her shoulders and gently lowered her on the bed to rest. She had cried herself to sleep._

_When Renji made a move to stand, she grabbed his hand to stop him. _

"_Renji," she whispered softly, "I'm pregnant."_

_It was almost inaudible; Renji had to strain his ears in order to make sure he heard her correctly. He felt her grip going lax and took it as his cue to leave._

_He stood there dumbfounded for a full minute before he took in a deep breath. He didn't have anything to say. He was too shocked to even be able to form a coherent reply so he simply walked away._

* * *

Rukia was brought back to reality as she heard the familiar laughter of one orange-haired shinigami. She smiled brightly as she turned to look at him. "What are you doing, Ichigo?" she called amusedly.

"Nothing!" he yelled back with eyes twinkling with mirth and mischief.

Rukia laughed as she joined him and hugged him tightly.

"Nothing, he says," Renji mimicked jokingly. "He just tried to fry my ass with his half-assed attempts at Kido," he grumbled half-heartedly.

"Watch your language," she warned. "Besides, Ichigo was never good at controlling his reiatsu," she continued while ruffling his hair playfully.

Renji laughed at Ichigo's annoyed face and couldn't help but ruffle his hair too for good measures. That earned him a scowl from orange-haired boy and a grumbled, "Hey! Watch the hair!"

Rukia looked lovingly as the two males in her life bickered about anything and everything. It reminded her so much of the old days that she couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Big hazel eyes stared questioningly at her.

She blinked a couple of times. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"Why is my last name 'Kurosaki' not 'Kuchiki' like yours?" he asked curiously.

"Well, let's see… it's because your father was a great man and you deserve to have his name," she stated proudly.

"Really?" he asked eagerly.

"Yup, really, he was so strong every hollow feared him!" she chuckled as Ichigo practically radiated admiration and respect.

"Then how come he's not here now?" Ichigo wondered innocently.

"Your father had to fight this really nasty hollow to protect all of us and well, things didn't exactly go as planned…" she trailed off.

"I bet he kicked that hollow's ass and he's just resting before he can come back to us!" he declared enthusiastically with a grin rivaling that of his father's before jumping to hug his mother tightly.

Rukia hugged him back just as tightly one last time before she sent him off to play. "I love you, Ichigo," she told him lovingly.

"I love you too, Mom," the boy replied before hurrying off to practice his Kido.

"He's just like him," Rukia said as she noticed Renji coming up to her.

"Yeah, and just as bad too," Renji said with a smirk.

Rukia punched his arm lightly and rolled her eyes as Renji feigned being hurt.

"I can't believe it's been six years already," she said with a sigh.

The red-haired shinigami nodded his head. "How long are you planning to stay in Karakura?" he asked seriously.

Rukia averted her eyes and her face turned solemn when she finally looked at him. "I want Ichigo to have a normal life. I want him to live his human life, after that, we'll return to Soul Society," she stated, determination blazing in her eyes. Nothing could make her change her mind.

"They're not gonna like that and you know it." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, a habit that he picked up when he came to the living world.

"Well, they're gonna have to deal with it and make sure to tell Ni-sama that as well because I'm not changing my mind and if they come, I'll fight them tooth and nail." She crossed her arms across her chest protectively.

"Mah…no one's gonna come. I'm gonna make sure of that," he assured her.

"Thanks, Renji… for everything."

He smiled in return and turned to watch the orange-haired boy as he failed miserably over and over.

"Hey! Old man, I'm sick of this Kido thing. Let's spar!" Ichigo laughed at the look of irritation on Renji's face before he scurried off, the sound of his laughter the only hint that he was there.

"You little brat! Who are you calling old man?"

Rukia stood watching over her two important people. Things have changed over the past six years and becoming a mother had taught her so many things. She moved into Karakura, into Ichigo's house where she raised their son to be as great as his father. She opened a flower shop in place of the family clinic and started working there as a florist. It helped her to be near her son and had a feeling that Ichigo wouldn't mind her renovating the house a little.

Urahara came by every once and awhile to check on her and give her updates on the status-quo of Soul Society. He was also kind enough to drop a few gifts to little Ichigo and train him a little.

Renji stopped by whenever he had the chance to keep her company and to spoil her son whenever possible.

She sighed contently and looked up at the blue sky. Renji got a new friend and a sparring partner while she got her own Kurosaki Ichigo.

Soul Society was never able to find the bodies of the three fighting in Hueco Mundo. A small part of her held hope that he was still alive. However, she realized that she had to let go and start living her life instead of simply going through the motions.

She sighed in relief as a heavy burden lifted off her chest and looked to the sky one last time with big smile on her face.

"Today's a new day. Watch over us, Ichigo."

...

**The End**

* * *

Writing this story has been a great adventure for me. It taught me many things and helped me improve my writing style. I had the chance to write angst which is definitely my favorite.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to all who have supported me from day one to this moment.

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!

Take care,

Signing off,

~KWF~


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